Bakers build judgment and decision making, time management and quality control analysis skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Cooks, Restaurant (88%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooks, Restaurant | 88% | $37,390 | +1% | None |
| 2 | Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria | 84% | $37,450 | +1% | None |
| 3 | Food Preparation Workers | 83% | $35,320 | −5% | None |
| 4 | Cooks, Fast Food | 79% | $30,890 | −17% | None |
| 5 | Packers and Packagers, Hand | 79% | $36,280 | −2% | None |
| 6 | Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products | 78% | $35,730 | −4% | None |
| 7 | Cooks, Short Order | 77% | $35,880 | −3% | None |
| 8 | Machine Feeders and Offbearers | 76% | $41,220 | +11% | None |
| 9 | Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers | 74% | $34,890 | −6% | None |
| 10 | Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders | 74% | $43,220 | +16% | None |
Compared with Bakers, median $37,160. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as bakers (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
88% skill match · $37,390 · +1% pay
Management of Financial Resources · Complex Problem Solving · Systems Analysis
84% skill match · $37,450 · +1% pay
Complex Problem Solving · Management of Personnel Resources · Management of Financial Resources
83% skill match · $35,320 · −5% pay
Service Orientation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Cooks, Restaurant (88% skill match, median $37,390), Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria (84% skill match, median $37,450) and Food Preparation Workers (83% skill match, median $35,320), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 15 pay more than bakers at the median. The biggest increases: Chefs and Head Cooks (+68%, $62,470), Insulation Workers, Mechanical (+57%, $58,340) and Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (+45%, $53,750).
24 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.