Overall

• Culinary arts chefs made an average of $21.53 per hour as of May 2010, reports the BLS. Based on a full-time, 40-hour work week, annual salaries for chefs across all industries averaged $44,780. The lowest-paid 10 percent of all culinary arts chefs earned a maximum of $11.18 per hour or $23,260 per year. The highest-paid 10 percent earned a minimum of $34.11 per hour or $70,960 per year.