Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › North Carolina
Culinary & pastry schools in North Carolina
North Carolina has 26 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in North Carolina, expect to start around $38,210–$48,360 and reach a median of $61,130 with experience; the top quarter earn $76,330 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, North Carolina). Graduates of these North Carolina programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $26,084 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in North Carolina
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 4,920 employed in North Carolina. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in North Carolina, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: AshevilleCharlotteDurhamElizabeth CityFayettevilleGrahamHendersonHudsonJacksonvilleJamestownKinstonLumbertonMorehead CityMurphyPinehurstPolktonRaleighRocky MountSalisburySanfordStatesvilleSylvaWilkesboroWilmingtonWilson
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Technical Community College | Raleigh | Public technical college | 61 | $31,816 | $12,000 | 33% | not reported |
| Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College | Asheville | Public technical college | 79 | $26,819 | not reported | 40% | not reported |
| Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte | Charlotte | non-profit university | 161 | $26,084 | $14,167 | not reported | not reported |
| Central Piedmont Community College | Charlotte | Public community college | 82 | $24,931 | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| Guilford Technical Community College | Jamestown | Public technical college | 49 | $21,045 | $26,250 | 31% | not reported |
| Wilkes Community College | Wilkesboro | Public community college | 42 | not reported | not reported | 55% | not reported |
| Carteret Community College | Morehead City | Public community college | 32 | not reported | not reported | 49% | not reported |
| Coastal Carolina Community College | Jacksonville | Public community college | 26 | not reported | not reported | 49% | not reported |
| Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute | Hudson | Public technical college | 17 | not reported | not reported | 45% | not reported |
| Fayetteville Technical Community College | Fayetteville | Public technical college | 17 | not reported | not reported | 24% | not reported |
| Mitchell Community College | Statesville | Public community college | 17 | not reported | not reported | 28% | not reported |
| Durham Technical Community College | Durham | Public technical college | 15 | not reported | not reported | 45% | not reported |
| Sandhills Community College | Pinehurst | Public community college | 13 | not reported | not reported | 53% | not reported |
| Southwestern Community College | Sylva | Public community college | 13 | not reported | not reported | 53% | not reported |
| Central Carolina Community College | Sanford | Public community college | 11 | not reported | not reported | 43% | not reported |
| College of the Albemarle | Elizabeth City | Public community college | 10 | not reported | not reported | 35% | not reported |
| Cape Fear Community College | Wilmington | Public community college | 9 | not reported | not reported | 35% | not reported |
| Nash Community College | Rocky Mount | Public community college | 9 | not reported | not reported | 41% | not reported |
| Robeson Community College | Lumberton | Public community college | 9 | not reported | not reported | 33% | not reported |
| Lenoir Community College | Kinston | Public community college | 7 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| Wilson Community College | Wilson | Public community college | 4 | not reported | not reported | 27% | not reported |
| Livingstone College | Salisbury | non-profit college | 3 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Tri-County Community College | Murphy | Public community college | 3 | not reported | not reported | 54% | not reported |
| Vance-Granville Community College | Henderson | Public community college | 3 | not reported | not reported | 53% | not reported |
| Alamance Community College | Graham | Public community college | 2 | not reported | not reported | 39% | not reported |
| South Piedmont Community College | Polkton | Public community college | 1 | not reported | not reported | 38% | not reported |
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
Ranked by median earnings of this program's graduates one year after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026); campuses without a reported figure follow, by credentials awarded. "Program debt" is the median federal loan debt for graduates of this program at this campus. Completion is the campus-wide 150%-of-time rate. "Not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy.