Cook apprenticeships in Lawton, OK
Lawton, OK is a smaller U.S. metro. Here is what working as a cook looks like locally.
KEY FACTS — LAWTON, OK
Lawton: ~1 of 460 (~0.1%) · market pressure 69/100 — High pressure.
Confidence: low. Annual labor earnings (W-2 wages + self-employment), not OEWS hourly-wage extrapolations.
Source: Census ACS 2024 5-year PUMS (state-rate projection onto metro OEWS employment).
Source: BLS OEWS.
Confidence: low. Composite of projected annual openings, projected growth, and current $100K+ earnings rate. Not a direct vacancy count.
Source: Projections Central data; score computed by Prentice.
Source: Census ACS 2022 5-year.
A framing, not a forecast. See methodology.
Numerator: ACS PUMS $100K+ annual earners.
Lawton, OK is one of Oklahoma's labor markets for cooks. This page collects what adults switching into a career as a cook inside the Lawton 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.
Lawton, OK cooks earn a median of $28,360 (BLS OEWS Lawton MSA, May 2024). For Oklahoma context, statewide pay runs from $13/hr at entry to $18/hr at the state median and $29/hr at the experienced end. Statewide headline: $37K avg salary. The Lawton metro is a smaller U.S. MSA; local wages may run above or below the state median depending on sector mix.
Metro-level six-figure cook counts for the Lawton metro are not yet published; the estimate is suppressed or pending ingestion. ACS 2024 5-year PUMS estimates ~1 $100K+ annual earners (~0.1% of employed cooks, ACS PUMS WAGP+SEMP). Projections Central long-term pressure score: 69/100 (High, low confidence). Bachelor's-plus in the metro labor force: 19K (ACS 2022 5-year). Sources: BLS OEWS, Census ACS PUMS, Projections Central, Census ACS.
Statewide cook programs and employer-sponsored paths are listed on the Oklahoma 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: Oklahoma rules apply in the Lawton 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. Smaller MSAs like the Lawton metro often source cook apprentices from a 60-mile radius into the nearest larger urban center; check with the state programs page for the closest active intake.
COOK PAY SNAPSHOT — LAWTON, OK
$28,360 (OEWS MSA-level median)
Source: BLS OEWS MSA cross-industry estimates. Where MSA-level data is suppressed or unpublished we fall back to the state median and label it explicitly.
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