Cooks, Restaurant pay in Memphis
$35,500avg. a year
$17.07 an hour · 4,800 employed
Cooks, Restaurant in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area earn an average of $35,500 a year. That is $1,030 (3%) less than the Tennessee average of $36,530. The U.S. average is $38,730.
$36,340Median pay
$17.07Average hourly
-3%vs. Tennessee average
4,800Jobs in this metro
Other Tennessee metro areas
Average pay for cooks, restaurant in other Tennessee metro areas. Swipe to see all 9.
110,420 jobs
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
$39,040
$18.77 an hour
23,820 jobs
Knoxville, TN
$35,930
$17.28 an hour
32,490 jobs
Chattanooga, TN-GA
$35,200
$16.92 an hour
4320 jobs
Morristown, TN
$34,870
$16.76 an hour
5490 jobs
Jackson, TN
$34,580
$16.63 an hour
6340 jobs
Cleveland, TN
$34,100
$16.40 an hour
71,020 jobs
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
$33,800
$16.25 an hour
8780 jobs
Johnson City, TN
$33,670
$16.19 an hour
9880 jobs
Clarksville, TN-KY
$33,520
$16.12 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.
How Memphis compares
Pay range: metro vs. state vs. U.S.
Annual wage percentiles, May 2025
This metroTennesseeU.S.
Tennessee metro areas
Average pay, May 2025 · this metro highlighted
Related jobs in Memphis
| Job | Avg. pay in this metro |
|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $27,980 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $28,120 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | $44,440 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $29,130 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $27,550 |
| Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | $34,410 |
Questions and answers
How much do cooks, restaurant make in Memphis?
The average is $35,500 a year, and the median is $36,340. About 4,800 people work in this job in the metro area.
Is that more than the Tennessee average?
That is $1,030 (3%) less than the Tennessee average of $36,530.
Is this job common in Memphis?
It makes up 7.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the metro area, 0.86 times the national share.
Sources and notes. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, occupation code 35-2014. Metro area: Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan statistical area (BLS area code 32820). Wages are gross pay before taxes and don't include overtime premiums, tips, bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers aren't included. How we use the data. JobPayFacts isn't affiliated with BLS.