Why are chefs so poorly compensated?

is right, the figures cited in the question include lots of casual chains that have everything down to a system, and where the person with the title chef is just a functionary.  That's a different world and there's not a whole lot of mobility back and forth between, say, Olive Garden and a high profile independent restaurant (which probably pays better, yet makes half the revenue of an Olive Garden).  Plus a lot of people with that title are working in resorts, hospitals, catering companies, private homes, food producers, and so on.  If by "chef" you mean the decisionmaker, supervisor, menu planner, and general all-around head of the kitchen at a fine dining or independent casual restaurant or catering company, then first there is the matter of  supply and demand.  A lot of people want that job, and as hard as it is  to find all the necessary passion and skills in a single person, there is a lot of talent out there.  There are only so many job openings.  Meanwhile, culinary academies are pumping out far more students than the job market can take. I'm sure the Golden Gate Restaurant Association has the survey and my exposure to the industry is a few years old now, but I'd guess that a credentialed chef taking over the kitchen in typical 50-100 seat Bay Area restaurant would expect a base salary of maybe $50-75K.  You can live on that and it's not terrible, until you consider that's one of two top positions out of a staff of 30-50, the person's a local celebrity in the newspaper all the time, hobnobbing with millionaires and rock stars, etc. Although it's a highly skilled occupation where experience counts, both physically and in terms of business management and planning, it's one that many people can learn on their own without formal training, either by working their way up or just doing it.  Many of the greatest chefs and a whole lot of solid working chefs are self-taught.  Many others went through top kitchens before striking out on their own.  For them it's a step up.  If you think chefs are underpaid you should ask a sous chef or a pastry chef. Hours are long too.  It's often 6-7 days a week, 12-15 hours per day.  If you calculate it by the hour and the value of overtime, many chefs are barely working minimum wage, and earn less per actual hour than the hourly staff. Restaurant workers are a tribe, a family.  Many of them wouldn't know what to do if they couldn't be in a restaurant.  Maybe tend bar.  The entire industry is low paid.  With some notable exceptions that would take ten quora questions to answer, at most fine dining restaurants nobody makes much money except the liquor purveyor.  That includes the owners, the farmers that supply the food, the architect that designed the kitchen, and especially not the cooks, waitstaff, and managers.  There is an oversupply of restaurants in the US, costs are high, lots of investment money pouring in, and not much revenue to go around.  If you paid any of these people what they're worth in terms of their dedication, quality of work, or how much they're doing for you as a customer or restaurant owner, you'd have to double the prices, and then nobody could afford it at all.   Restaurants are a labor of love.  It's a creative enterprise, and it shares with theater, music, and dance the need for lots of infrastructure, investment, and organization... plus creativity, training, hard work, insight, passion, perhaps even genius, to treat strangers to a brief  magical experience.

Great inside views by Jonas and Gil. The sad thing is that the so called "Education Industry" has seemingly unlimited marketing funds and still pulls in thousands of culinary students every month all over the country with their illusionary tales about the wonderful life of a "chef". Their ads are seen by millions of people daily, while cautionary comments like ours are seen by a few dozen. While job opportunities dwindle, the amount of new cooks multiplies. Many very young, unexperienced or older chefs are forced to take any job available to them, at any salary, just to survive.

For some strange reason I was blocked from writing on Quora for a few days - fake name alert. But I'm back. Anyway, Jonas, the figures you are giving sound odd to me. Union pay in this state (NRW) and others for a demi chef is just over € 9.00 per hour and around € 12.00 for a chef (Küchenchef, i.e. the one who manages the kitchen). Not every business pays union wages, some pay a little less, some pay a little more. But 30.oo USD (around € 26,00) is completely unheard of in these parts. The good thing about working in Europe is the fact that every minute of overtime is recorded and compensated for in time off. Therefore, owners/operators discourage the accumulation of vast amounts of overtime.

I'm not sure where you're getting your info from, but in most areas of the northeast US the average "chef 's" salary for a mid to larger independent restaurant is anywhere from about $75,000 - $110,000 per year. If you're using the term "chef" to mean anyone cooking in a kitchen then you need to clarify your question. If that is the case, than yes, it would be true that the average "cook " only makes about $12 - $15 an hour.

If you honestly think Chefs are badly remunerated, then please look at what front of house staff (at least in The UK) are paid. You will have a shock. For some reason those of us who take the bookings and the orders, market the restaurant, clean, serve, handle payments, deal with complaints, know about wine, create atmosphere, and generally ensure that someone is there to receive, and willing to pay for, the creations of the tyrant in the white who thinks he is Gordon Ramsey are barely considered worth half of what he is. In the UK a chef will earn far more than the equivalent front of house position.  Just take a look at http://caterer.com/.  An average head waiter / restaurant manager £15-20k, (US$23-31k) and an average head chef £25-30k. (US$38-$46k) Do not get me started on tips.  In the UK we do not tip like you do in the States.  There is NO tipping culture similar to yours in any way.  The stories of US wait staff making hundreds of dollars an hour in tips make my eyes water green with envy.  We are lucky to make £100 per night (US$150) in tips in the UK - not each, to be shared between us all, including the kitchen staff (and housekeeping, maintenance, accounts department, marketing team, etc.).  That is when tips are not straightforwardly stolen by the proprietors anyway.  (As they normally are.  Never leave a tip on your credit card if you want the staff to see it.) It is common to go home at the end of the night with a nice round number in tips.  That number is 0 Not that I am bitter or anything....... ;-) Please also see my answer to - which repeats some of this text, sorry!

There are some exceptions. Chef Emeril had his first easting establishment across the street from where I lived on Julia Street in New Orleans and his level of compensation must have been adequate and then some. I went for dinner no less than forty times. My favorite dish at the time was Study of Duck and I would have Death by Chocolate to top off the scrumptious meal. Merlot to accompany the mentioned was often ordered. His staff taking the orders had to have been, in my opinion, the best anywhere, therefore, I contributed to their and Emeril's financial value. And they all deserved it.