Chicago Public Schools / Dunbar Career Academy Hs / Cook III
Job-title file
Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.
1 employees hold this title in Dunbar Career Academy Hs. Median total compensation for the role is $46,984, below the department median of $105,053.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria — about 14,010 people — is $38,290. Dunbar Career Academy Hs pays a median base salary of $30,369 for this role, 21% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Dunbar Career Academy Hs’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria — about 441,050 people — is $37,450. Dunbar Career Academy Hs’s median base salary is 19% below that national figure, about the 17th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Dunbar Career Academy Hs is $46,984, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
Cook III is held in 98 Chicago Public Schools departments. In Dunbar Career Academy Hs, the median of $46,984 ranks #1 of 98.
Median total compensation for the Cook III role in other Chicago Public Schoolsdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 20 jurisdictions. In Chicago Public Schools, the median of $46,984 ranks #8 of 20. See Cook across all of Chicago Public Schools →
Median total compensation for comparable Cookroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
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Cook III/Dunbar Career Academy Hs
Source-specific fields
Terri Johnson works as a Cook III for Dunbar Career Academy Hs. Terri earned $46,984 in 2026.