Grades and pay
Typical grades
NA-4 to NA-6
Most common promotion potential: NA-4
NA pay plan, used by 58% of this series' postings.
Typical posted salary range
$48,353 to $51,981 per year
Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.
Series 7404
Cooking
Cooks who prepare regular and special-diet meals in large kitchens, such as hospitals and military dining facilities.
See open 7404 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory
At a glance
- Job postings, last 12 months
- 1,694
- Open now
- 108
- Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before)
- Rising (+19%)
- Demand score
- 95/100
- Remote opportunity score
- 0/100
- Veteran opportunity score
- 91/100
Grades and pay
Who can apply
Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.
- Open to the public
- 87%
- Federal employees and other special groups only
- 13%
- Listed a veterans hiring path
- 7%
- Telework eligible (open now)
- 0%
- Fully remote (open now)
- 0%
Who is hiring and where
Hiring patterns
Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated
When this series usually posts jobs
Postings are spread fairly evenly through the year, so there is no clear best month to look.
| Month | Compared with an average month |
|---|---|
| January | About average |
| February | About average |
| March | 11% above average |
| April | 6% above average |
| May | About average |
| June | About average |
| July | 7% above average |
| August | 7% above average |
| September | About average |
| October | About average |
| November | 17% below average |
| December | 13% below average |
Postings by fiscal year
The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.
| Fiscal year | Postings |
|---|---|
| FY 2018 | 1,158 |
| FY 2019 | 1,356 |
| FY 2020 | 1,585 |
| FY 2021 | 2,006 |
| FY 2022 | 2,159 |
| FY 2023 | 2,007 |
| FY 2024 | 1,747 |
| FY 2025 | 1,508 |
| FY 2026 | 1,670 |
Postings by month, last 12 months
| Month | Postings |
|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 118 |
| Jan 2026 | 137 |
| Feb 2026 | 127 |
| Mar 2026 | 164 |
| Apr 2026 | 159 |
| May 2026 | 128 |
| Jun 2026 | 141 |
| Jul 2026 | 147 |
| Aug 2026 | 154 |
| Sep 2026 | 170 |
| Oct 2026 | 173 |
| Nov 2026 | 76 |
Related series in Food Preparation and Serving Family
- 7408 Food Service Working 2,029 postings in 12 months
- 7407 Meatcutting 377 postings in 12 months
- 7405 Bartending 363 postings in 12 months
- 7401 General Food Preparation and Serving 181 postings in 12 months
- 7420 Waiter 142 postings in 12 months
About this data
Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.
These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.