New York City / Department of Correction / *Cook
Job-title file
Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.
84 employees hold this title in Department of Correction. Median total compensation for the role is $51,871, below the department median of $128,286.
What the records show
How total compensation varies among the 84 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, the median wage for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria — about 15,270 people — is $46,870. Department of Correction pays a median base salary of $44,303 for this role, 5% below that figure — about the 39th 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Correction’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. Department of Correction’s median base salary is 18% above that national figure, about the 73rd 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 64 of 84 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Correction is $51,871, 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 is held in 2 New York City departments. In Department of Correction, the median of $51,871 ranks #1 of 2.
Median total compensation for the *Cook role in other New York Citydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 20 jurisdictions. In New York City, the median of $51,280 ranks #5 of 20. See Cook across all of New York City →
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/Department of Correction
Source-specific fields
Kimberly Nelms works as a *Cook for Department of Correction based in Manhattan. Their tenure dates to 2024, about a year. Kimberly earned $447 in 2025.
*Cook/Department of Correction
Source-specific fields
Joseph Nieves is a *Cook at Department of Correction based in Queens. They have served since 2011 (about 14 years). 2025 total compensation came to -$2.
*Cook/Department of Correction
Source-specific fields
Tracey Woods is a *Cook at Department of Correction based in Queens. Their tenure dates to 1989, about 36 years. 2025 total compensation came to -$384.
*Cook/Department of Correction
Source-specific fields
Peter Martinez is a *Cook at Department of Correction based in Queens. Their tenure dates to 2000, about 25 years. 2025 total compensation came to -$1,471.