Cooks, Restaurant pay in Kentucky
$33,700avg. a year
$16.20 an hour · 13,510 employed
Cooks, Restaurant in Kentucky earn an average of $33,700 a year. That is $5,030 (13%) less than the U.S. average of $38,730. The best-paying metro area is Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN at $35,360.
$34,640Median pay
$16.20Average hourly
+34%Avg. pay since 2020
#45Of 50 states + D.C.
Top-paying Kentucky metro areas
Average pay for cooks, restaurant by metro area. Swipe to see all 9.
15,390 jobs
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
$35,360
$17.00 an hour
210,810 jobs
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
$35,010
$16.83 an hour
32,300 jobs
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$34,740
$16.70 an hour
4880 jobs
Clarksville, TN-KY
$33,520
$16.12 an hour
5570 jobs
Bowling Green, KY
$32,510
$15.63 an hour
6490 jobs
Paducah, KY-IL
$32,510
$15.63 an hour
7440 jobs
Owensboro, KY
$32,240
$15.50 an hour
8370 jobs
Elizabethtown, KY
$31,580
$15.18 an hour
91,090 jobs
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
$30,570
$14.70 an hour
Why people trust JobPayFacts
Official government dataEvery number comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey of employers, not self-reported salaries.
Every state and city830 jobs across all 50 states, D.C. and 199 large metro areas.
Updated every yearNew figures each spring when BLS releases them. This site uses May 2025 data.
Cooks, Restaurant pay in Kentucky, charted
Pay over time
Kentucky, annual wage, May of each year
AverageMedian
Where Kentucky cooks, restaurant work
Employment by metro area, May 2025
Related jobs in Kentucky
Average pay, Kentucky, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS
Questions and answers
How much do cooks, restaurant make in Kentucky?
The average is $33,700 a year, and the median is $34,640. That is $5,030 (13%) less than the U.S. average of $38,730.
What is the hourly wage in Kentucky?
$16.20 an hour on average; the median is $16.65.
Where in Kentucky do they earn the most?
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN ($35,360), followed by Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN ($35,010). The lowest average among 9 metro areas with data is Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH ($30,570).
How does Kentucky rank?
Kentucky ranks #45 of 51 states (including D.C.) with published data for this job, by average pay.
Sources and notes. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 (trend: May 2020–May 2025), occupation code 35-2014. State rank compares average pay across states with published data. Metro figures cover metropolitan statistical areas; a metro area can cross state lines. See also the national cooks, restaurant page. Wages are gross pay before taxes and don't include overtime premiums, tips, bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers aren't included. Year-to-year changes can partly reflect survey method changes, so treat the trend as a guide. How we use the data. JobPayFacts isn't affiliated with BLS.