Skip to content
Singulariki

Bakers vs Cooks, Fast Food

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Bakers and Cooks, Fast Food on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Bakers Cooks, Fast Food
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$36,650
$30,160
Employment · BLS OEWS
231,890
668,230
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
27th pct
65th pct

At a glance

Dimension Bakers Cooks, Fast Food
Median pay $36,650 $30,160
Employment 231,890 668,230
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+5.6%) Declining (-13.5%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 39,900 82,100
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 27th pct Moderate · 65th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 22nd pct · 17% of tasks 29th pct · 18% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Augmentation-leaning (45.4%) Augmentation-leaning (45.8%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Production and Processing, Customer and Personal Service, Near Vision, Monitoring, English Language, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Speech Recognition, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Active Learning, Coordination, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Speech Clarity, Administration and Management, Sales and Marketing, Reading Comprehension, Inductive Reasoning, Social Perceptiveness.

Specific to Bakers

  • Food Production
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Mathematics
  • Category Flexibility
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Control Precision
  • Operations Monitoring

Specific to Cooks, Fast Food

  • Transportation
  • Communications and Media
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Service Orientation
  • Trunk Strength
  • Economics and Accounting
  • Time Sharing
  • Stamina

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Word processing software , Electronic mail software .

Specific to Bakers

Specific to Cooks, Fast Food

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Bakers or Cooks, Fast Food — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Bakers vs Cooks, Fast Food." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/bakers-vs-cooks-fast-food

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Bakers vs Cooks, Fast Food. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/bakers-vs-cooks-fast-food

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-bakers-vs-cooks-fast-food,
  title  = {Bakers vs Cooks, Fast Food},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/bakers-vs-cooks-fast-food}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.