Baker Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 9,167 US job postings by 914 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for bakers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 9,167 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for bakers in US job postings is $18.50 an hour (1,830 postings from 197 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $16.00 to $22.00 an hour.
- The skills that most set baker postings apart are baking, cake decorating.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Baker job postings in the US, October 2026
- $18.50/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,830 postings)
- $16.00–$22.00
- Middle 50% of postings
- 9,167
- US job postings from 914 employers
- 1 year
- Median experience asked
How much does a baker make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $18.50 an hour, from 1,830 US job postings by 197 employers that state pay. That is about $38,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,830 US baker job postings: median $38,000 a year ($18.50 an hour), middle half $33,000 to $47,000.
- Median: $38,000 ($18.50/hr)
- 25th percentile: $33,000
- 75th percentile: $47,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.4% |
| $20K–$30K | 16.5% |
| $30K–$40K | 39.4% |
| $40K–$50K | 26.1% |
| $50K–$60K | 8.6% |
| $60K–$70K | 2.7% |
| $70K–$80K | 2.9% |
| $80K–$90K | 1.8% |
| $90K–$100K | 0.8% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $18.50 | $16.00–$22.00 | 605 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $38,000 | $33K–$47K | 1,830 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Bakers (51-3011) at $37,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a baker?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying baker jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pastry Cook | $21.50/hr | 265 | 68 |
| Baker (general) | $17.00/hr | 1,365 | 132 |
Baker pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $23.00/hr | $21.00–$25.00 | 109 | 10.0% |
Skills employers ask for in baker job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 22% |
| Attention to detail | 20% |
| Customer service | 18% |
| Organizational skills | 11% |
| Teamwork | 10% |
| Positive attitude | 10% |
| Interpersonal skills | 9% |
| Problem-solving | 8% |
| Time management | 8% |
| Team player | 8% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set bakers apart
- Friendly3.8× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a baker job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a baker do?
Employers post these jobs as Pastry Cook, Cake Decorator, Pastry Chef, Cook/Baker, Bakery Clerk and other titles. The largest specializations are Pastry Cook (11%), Bakery Manager (7%).
The closest official occupation is Bakers (51-3011.00). Its most important tasks:
- Measure or weigh flour or other ingredients to prepare batters, doughs, fillings, or icings, using scales or graduated containers.
- Set oven temperatures, and place items into hot ovens for baking.
- Check products for quality, and identify damaged or expired goods.
- Check equipment to ensure that it meets health and safety regulations, and perform maintenance or cleaning, as necessary.
- Adapt the quantity of ingredients to match the amount of items to be baked.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a baker?
Among 660 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. 3% say 0 years and 55% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 660 US baker job postings: median 1 year, and 55% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 5% |
| 1 yr | 50% |
| 2 yrs | 25% |
| 3-4 yrs | 15% |
| 5-7 yrs | 3% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a baker: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Baker | 373 (40.8%) |
| Pastry Cook | 165 (18.1%) |
| Cake Decorator | 130 (14.2%) |
| Pastry Chef | 71 (7.8%) |
| Cook/Baker | 44 (4.8%) |
| Bakery Clerk | 42 (4.6%) |
| Bakery Manager | 39 (4.3%) |
| Pastry Sous Chef | 30 (3.3%) |
| Assistant Bakery Manager | 22 (2.4%) |
| Bread Baker | 20 (2.2%) |
| Overnight Baker | 19 (2.1%) |
| Executive Pastry Chef | 17 (1.9%) |
| Bakery Associate | 16 (1.8%) |
| Bakery Team Member | 15 (1.6%) |
| Future Opening: Baker | 12 (1.3%) |
| Pastry Cook III | 12 (1.3%) |
| Pastry Cook II | 12 (1.3%) |
| Pastry Baker | 11 (1.2%) |
| Lead Baker | 10 (1.1%) |
| Bakery Assistant | 10 (1.1%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Baker job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pastry Chef | 136 | 71 | – | – | – |
| Pastry Cook | 320 | 165 | – | – | attention to detail, communication, teamwork |
Baker compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker | $18.50/hr | 1 year | 9,167 | – |
| Cook | $19.00/hr | 1 year | 52,846 | 19 |
| Restaurant Team Member | $15.92/hr | – | 50,537 | 10 |
| Food Service Worker | $17.00/hr | 1 year | 20,301 | 16 |
| Chef | $60K | 2 years | 9,444 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Cook | 19 | $19.00/hr |
| Restaurant Team Member | 10 | $15.92/hr |
| Food Service Worker | 16 | $17.00/hr |
| Chef | 16 | $60K |
| Dishwasher | 17 | $17.00/hr |
| Team Leader | 16 | $18.00/hr |
Applying for baker jobs?
- Baker resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find baker jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.