Cooks, Fast Food Salary in Charlotte, NC (2024)
Cooks, Fast Food in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area earn a median of $28,310 per year ($13.61 per hour) based on 18,560 jobs counted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024. That is -6.1% against the national median of $30,160 for this occupation.
Pay distribution
The median is a single point on a wide curve. The table below shows where cooks, fast food actually sit across the pay range in Charlotte, NC, from the bottom decile to the top.
| Percentile | Hourly | Annual | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $10.90 | $22,680 | |
| 25th percentile | $11.38 | $23,680 | |
| Median | $13.61 | $28,310 | half earn more, half earn less |
| 75th percentile | $14.46 | $30,070 | |
| 90th percentile | $16.75 | $34,850 | |
| Average (mean) | $13.45 | $27,980 |
How Charlotte, NC compares
The local median of $28,310 runs -6.1% below the US median of $30,160 for this occupation; it pays 42.1% less than the metro-wide median across all jobs ($48,880); within the metro it ranks 635th of 641 detailed occupations by median pay.
| Benchmark | Median annual | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte, NC — this occupation | $28,310 | — |
| US median, same occupation (all areas) | $30,160 | -6.1% |
| Charlotte, NC — all occupations | $48,880 | -42.1% |
| Highest metro in the US for this job | $41,980 | -32.6% |
Charlotte, NC has an unusually deep bench in this occupation — the location quotient of 3.19 means the job is roughly 319% as common here as it is nationally, which usually reflects a specialised local industry cluster.
High confidence The relative standard error on this estimate is 2.0%, which is a tight margin — the figure is stable enough to plan around.
Ranked 635th of 641 detailed occupations in the metro by median annual wage.
Highest-paying jobs in Charlotte, NC
To put $28,310 in context, these are the best-paid detailed occupations in the same metro area. This occupation sits 635th.
| Occupation | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse Anesthetists | $238,780 | 980 |
| Dentists, General | $192,580 | 820 |
| Emergency Medicine Physicians | $172,640 | 50 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | $172,100 | 7,580 |
| Architectural and Engineering Managers | $167,590 | 1,780 |
| Financial Managers | $167,470 | 8,790 |
| Natural Sciences Managers | $165,120 | 480 |
| Compensation and Benefits Managers | $164,160 | 220 |
| Commercial Pilots | $163,530 | 420 |
| Marketing Managers | $158,490 | 3,750 |
Where cooks, fast food earn the most
Across the 25 metro areas with released data for this occupation, medians run from $22,710 to $41,980. These are the top markets.
| Metro area | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $41,980 | 10,540 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $40,580 | 2,580 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $38,830 | 4,380 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $37,730 | 3,940 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $36,360 | 55,760 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $35,730 | 12,450 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $35,360 | 10,190 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $35,140 | 4,110 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $35,110 | 17,370 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $34,180 | 17,550 |
See the full national picture on the Cooks, Fast Food salary by metro page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for cooks, fast food in Charlotte, NC?
The median annual wage is $28,310, or $14 per hour. That means half of the cooks, fast food working in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area earn more than this figure and half earn less. The average is $27,980.
What do the highest and lowest paid cooks, fast food in Charlotte, NC earn?
The bottom 10% earn $22,680 or less, while the top 10% earn $34,850 or more — a spread of $12,170 between the two ends of the distribution. The middle half of workers sit between $23,680 and $30,070.
Is cooks, fast food pay in Charlotte, NC above the local average?
Yes, it is 42.1% below the all-occupation median for the metro, which is $48,880. That comparison is the fairer one for judging local purchasing power, because it holds the metro's overall cost and wage level constant.
How does Charlotte, NC pay compare with the rest of the US for this job?
At $28,310 the metro median is 6.1% lower than the US median of $30,160 for cooks, fast food. Across the 25 metro areas covered here, this occupation ranges from $22,710 to $41,980.
How many cooks, fast food work in Charlotte, NC?
BLS counts about 18,560 people in this occupation in the metro area, or 13.84 jobs per 1,000 total jobs. Charlotte, NC has an unusually deep bench in this occupation — the location quotient of 3.19 means the job is roughly 319% as common here as it is nationally, which usually reflects a specialised local industry cluster.
About these figures
Figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey for 2024 (employment relative standard error 7.4%). OEWS measures what employers pay, not what any individual earns; it excludes self-employed workers, and it does not adjust for local cost of living.
Read the full methodology, or the original data at bls.gov/oes.