Cook apprenticeships in Urban Honolulu, HI

Urban Honolulu, HI is one of Hawaii's largest labor markets for cooks. It is the 63rd-largest metro area in the United States by population. This page collects what adults switching into a career as a cook inside the Urban Honolulu metro need first: how local pay compares to the state, what the available labor-market data says about six-figure work, and which statewide programs and licensing rules apply locally.

Urban Honolulu, HI cooks earn a median of $39,070 (BLS OEWS Urban Honolulu MSA, May 2024). For Hawaii context, statewide pay runs from $19/hr at entry to $27/hr at the state median and $43/hr at the experienced end. Statewide headline: $56K avg salary. The Urban Honolulu metro is smaller than the state's largest; local wages may run above or below the state median depending on sector mix.

In the Urban Honolulu metro, estimated six-figure cook jobs: ~7 of 7.7K (~0.1%). Confidence: high. Log-normal fit residual is within tolerance. ACS 2024 5-year PUMS estimates ~75 $100K+ annual earners (~1.0% of employed cooks, ACS PUMS WAGP+SEMP). Projections Central long-term pressure score: 71/100 (High, low confidence). Bachelor's-plus in the metro labor force: 259K (ACS 2022 5-year). For statewide context: Hawaii shows ~70 of 12K (~0.6%). Sources: BLS OEWS, Census ACS PUMS, Projections Central, Census ACS.

Statewide cook programs and employer-sponsored paths are listed on the Hawaii programs page; none are flagged as metro-exclusive. Metro program and association references are inherited from sourced state pages unless a metro-exclusive entity is explicitly sourced. Treat them as orientation, not a complete local inventory, and verify current intake details with the statewide source or sponsor before relying. Licensing is set at the state level: Hawaii rules apply in the Urban Honolulu metro unless a local authority says otherwise. Metro pages use state-level licensing and program context unless a city, county, or sponsor rule is explicitly sourced. Verify current licensing, local add-ons, and sponsor requirements with the official state or local authority before relying. Expect a 60-90 minute drive radius for cook program sites that pull from the Urban Honolulu metro; rural applicants commonly enroll through the nearest larger MSA when local employer-sponsored slots are scarce.