Cooks (Private Household) build service orientation, judgment and decision making and time management 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 Chefs and Head Cooks (80%).
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 | Chefs and Head Cooks | 80% | $62,470 | +30% | None |
| 2 | Food Service Managers | 71% | $69,390 | +45% | None |
| 3 | Butchers and Meat Cutters | 71% | $40,140 | −16% | None |
| 4 | First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | 66% | $44,080 | −8% | None |
| 5 | Skincare Specialists | 65% | $45,330 | −5% | None |
| 6 | Bakers | 63% | $37,160 | −22% | None |
| 7 | Food Servers, Nonrestaurant | 63% | $35,360 | −26% | None |
| 8 | Animal Breeders | 62% | $51,130 | +7% | None |
| 9 | Bartenders | 62% | $34,340 | −28% | None |
| 10 | Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers | 62% | $39,390 | −18% | None |
Compared with Cooks, Private Household, median $47,940. 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 cooks (private household) (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.
80% skill match · $62,470 · +30% pay
Instructing · Management of Personnel Resources · Coordination
71% skill match · $69,390 · +45% pay
Management of Personnel Resources · Instructing · Coordination
71% skill match · $40,140 · −16% pay
Negotiation · Equipment Maintenance · Instructing
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Chefs and Head Cooks (80% skill match, median $62,470), Food Service Managers (71% skill match, median $69,390) and Butchers and Meat Cutters (71% skill match, median $40,140), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 8 pay more than cooks (private household) at the median. The biggest increases: Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance (+103%, $97,150), Food Service Managers (+45%, $69,390) and Athletes and Sports Competitors (+39%, $66,710).
25 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.