According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 205,000 bakers currently work in the United States. The baking industry is responsible for over 2% of America’s total GDP. If you are interested in starting your own bakery, you are likely curious how much do bakers make on average. The average baker will earn $34,140 annually and $16.41 an hour. This article will examine baker income metrics and the baker insurance you need to protect it.
The first income metric we will look at is how much do bakers make a year. Your average annual earnings as a baker will likely be between $28,510 and $37,460. This represents the salary range between the 25th and 75th percentiles. Most baker earnings are between this range.
| Percentile | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $24,060 |
| 25th | $28,510 |
| 50th | $32,780 |
| 75th | $37,460 |
| 90th | $45,650 |
Next, we will look at the average baker salary earned in a month. You can expect an average monthly salary of $2,845 as a baker. Bakers at the 25th percentile make $2,376, while ones at the 75th percentile make $3,122 monthly. You can expect to make $3,804 per month if you are a top earner.
| Percentile | Average Monthly Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $2,005 |
| 25th | $2,376 |
| 50th | $2,732 |
| 75th | $3,122 |
| 90th | $3,804 |
Take a look at how much do bakers get paid on a weekly basis. The mean average weekly wage for bakers is $657. You can expect to earn $878 per week if you are at the highest level of earners. However, most bakers earn between $548 and $720 weekly.
| Percentile | Average Weekly Wage |
|---|---|
| 10th | $463 |
| 25th | $548 |
| 50th | $630 |
| 75th | $720 |
| 90th | $878 |
When looking at a 5-day work week, how much money do bakers make on average? The average daily wage for a baker is around $131. Most bakers earn between $110 and $144 per day. Daily wages outside this range are considered data outliers. The top-earning bakers will take home around $179 per day.
| Percentile | Average Daily Wage |
|---|---|
| 10th | $93 |
| 25th | $110 |
| 50th | $126 |
| 75th | $144 |
| 90th | $179 |
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Are you interested in learning how much do bakers get paid an hour? Your hourly pay rate as a baker will be $16.41. If you are earning at the 25th percentile, it will be $13.71. Bakers at the 75th percentile will make $18.01. Hourly rates between $13.71 and $18.01 represent the majority of hourly earnings for bakers. Bakers at the top income level earn at a rate of $21.95 per hour.
| Percentile | Average Hourly Rate |
|---|---|
| 10th | $11.57 |
| 25th | $13.71 |
| 50th | $15.76 |
| 75th | $18.01 |
| 90th | $21.95 |
Another metric to consider is how much do bakers earn in the highest-employed industries. Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing is the top industry for bakers, with over 67,000 bakers employed. If you work in this industry, you can expect to earn $34,560 annually and $16.61 per hour.
| Industry | Employment | Average Hourly Wage | Average Weekly Wage | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing | 67,800 | $16.61 | $665 | $34,560 |
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 55,610 | $15.58 | $623 | $32,400 |
| Food and Beverage Retailers | 53,350 | $16.26 | $650 | $33,820 |
| Special Food Sevices | 3,970 | $16.89 | $675 | $35,120 |
| Merchant Wholesalers | 2,720 | $15.55 | $624 | $32,340 |
Do you want to know how much do professional bakers make in each so you can compare possible locations for your bakery? The average annual salary ranges between $20,920 and $42,040 between states. Bakers make the most in the District of Columbia, but the highest-paying state is Hawaii, with an average annual salary of $42,040.
| State | Employment | Average Hourly Wage | Average Annual Salary | 10th Percentile | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 1,930 | $13.81 | $28,720 | $20,840 | $24,020 | $28,150 | $33,150 | $37,460 |
| Alaska | 550 | $15.70 | $32,650 | $22,790 | $23,190 | $30,880 | $38,660 | $49,970 |
| Arizona | 4,650 | $16.22 | $33,740 | $28,440 | $29,790 | $31,430 | $36,350 | $38,710 |
| Arkansas | 620 | $14.65 | $30,470 | $23,420 | $24,830 | $28,780 | $34,480 | $40,990 |
| California | 24,420 | $18,73 | $38,960 | $30,810 | $34,650 | $37,020 | $41,480 | $48,660 |
| Colorado | 4,320 | $17.35 | $36,080 | $27,620 | $30,380 | $34,960 | $39,370 | $46,300 |
| Connecticut | 2,210 | $17.66 | $36,730 | $27,150 | $29,140 | $35,850 | $40,850 | $48,590 |
| Delaware | 250 | $16.33 | $33,960 | $27,340 | $28,760 | $31,230 | $37,330 | $44,980 |
| Florida | 10,740 | $15.47 | $32,180 | $24,110 | $27,840 | $29,870 | $36,620 | $39,790 |
| Georgia | 7,800 | $14.66 | $30,490 | $22,110 | $25,580 | $29,980 | $34,900 | $39,900 |
| Hawaii | 1,030 | $20.21 | $42,040 | $27,430 | $29,400 | $36,990 | $49,830 | $63,410 |
| Idaho | 1,130 | $15.54 | $32,320 | $20,660 | $26,290 | $31,730 | $37,090 | $40,220 |
| Illinois | 11,590 | $16.58 | $34,480 | $27,390 | $28,840 | $32,070 | $36,350 | $46,430 |
| Indiana | 2,540 | $15.19 | $31,580 | $22,420 | $27,500 | $30,680 | $35,800 | $40,700 |
| Iowa | 2,230 | $14.54 | $30,230 | $18,260 | $27,690 | $30,370 | $34,280 | $38,110 |
| Kansas | 1,400 | $12.97 | $26,980 | $20,210 | $21,750 | $25,260 | $30,420 | $36,450 |
| Kentucky | 780 | $15.15 | $31,500 | $22,420 | $24,150 | $28,840 | $36,990 | $44,610 |
| Louisiana | 1,600 | $13.29 | $27,640 | $19,090 | $21,160 | $27,230 | $32,340 | $36,190 |
| Maine | 1,360 | $17.17 | $35,720 | $28,870 | $30,160 | $34,550 | $37,850 | $46,450 |
| Maryland | 1,500 | $18.12 | $37,690 | $27,580 | $30,170 | $36,310 | $44,470 | $48,930 |
| Massachusetts | 4,760 | $19.64 | $40,850 | $31,210 | $34,470 | $36,600 | $45,550 | $58,870 |
| Michigan | 7,270 | $15.26 | $31,750 | $23,700 | $37,750 | $29,170 | $35,640 | $41,330 |
| Minnesota | 3,140 | $17.73 | $36,870 | $28,720 | $31,200 | $35,490 | $39,260 | $48,200 |
| Mississippi | 880 | $12.69 | $26,390 | $17,250 | $20,360 | $23,270 | $31,370 | $38,620 |
| Missouri | 5,880 | $14.78 | $30,750 | $23,660 | $26,720 | $29,520 | $33,610 | $37,440 |
| Montana | 880 | $16.10 | $33,500 | $25,960 | $28,540 | $32,100 | $37,180 | $42,460 |
| Nebraska | 1,760 | $15.29 | $31,810 | $26,820 | $28,330 | $28,900 | $35,370 | $38,080 |
| Nevada | 1,480 | $17.19 | $35,750 | $25,130 | $28,640 | $35,740 | $40,160 | $46,860 |
| New Hampshire | 730 | $16.94 | $35,240 | $24,960 | $30,360 | $34,910 | $38,950 | $46,330 |
| New Jersey | 6,130 | $18.31 | $38,080 | $27,590 | $28,830 | $35,360 | $43,680 | $52,890 |
| New Mexico | 1,040 | $15.02 | $31,230 | $23,920 | $27,370 | $28,710 | $35,030 | $38,260 |
| New York | 15,060 | $18.48 | $38,430 | $30,180 | $31,980 | $35,770 | $43,450 | $47,640 |
| North Carolina | 6,360 | $14.14 | $29,420 | $18,490 | $21,350 | $28,080 | $35,780 | $44,190 |
| North Dakota | 890 | $16.92 | $35,190 | $28,110 | $29,150 | $34,070 | $36,920 | $46,380 |
| Ohio | 7,810 | $15.38 | $31,980 | $22,620 | $26,900 | $30,350 | $36,240 | $44,450 |
| Oklahoma | 1,880 | $13.92 | $28,950 | $22,000 | $24,000 | $28,470 | $31,080 | $35,900 |
| Oregon | 3,520 | $17.04 | $35,430 | $29,220 | $30,480 | $32,840 | $37,780 | $44,410 |
| Pennsylvania | 9,650 | $15.79 | $32,840 | $21,650 | $27,190 | $31,460 | $37,050 | $46,250 |
| Rhode Island | 1,220 | $16.65 | $34,630 | $28,290 | $28,710 | $32,730 | $38,460 | $44,380 |
| South Carolina | 2,280 | $14.89 | $30,970 | $23,040 | $25,880 | $29,630 | $35,960 | $39,240 |
| South Dakota | 300 | $16.83 | $35,010 | $23,830 | $28,100 | $29,620 | $38,380 | $58,770 |
| Tennessee | 3,700 | $15.82 | $32,910 | $22,920 | $26,740 | $30,600 | $36,800 | $48,850 |
| Texas | 17,610 | $14.37 | $29,980 | $22,450 | $25,730 | $29,470 | $32,440 | $37,070 |
| Utah | 3,030 | $15.36 | $31,940 | $18,110 | $22,540 | $29,260 | $36,380 | $49,050 |
| Vermont | 640 | $17.58 | $36,560 | $28,080 | $29,830 | $36,560 | $39,050 | $46,170 |
| Virginia | 3,950 | $16.97 | $35,300 | $26,270 | $29,380 | $33,600 | $37,190 | $46,120 |
| Washington | 5,100 | $18.82 | $39,150 | $31,540 | $34,690 | $37,480 | $42,390 | $48,670 |
| West Virginia | 440 | $13.88 | $28,860 | $20,520 | $22,280 | $27,360 | $35,900 | $42,310 |
| Wisconsin | 3,570 | $15.55 | $32,340 | $22,620 | $27,640 | $30,440 | $36,580 | $43,150 |
| Wyoming | Data not available | $13.74 | $28,580 | $22,310 | $23,020 | $26,190 | $29,350 | $40,730 |
Now, we will look at how much do bakery workers make in the highest-paying metropolitan areas. These areas tend to be more densely populated than other areas of the country and share many of the same types of industries and infrastructure. See the chart below for a comparison of the metropolitan areas that pay the most to bakers.
| Metropolitan Area | States Located | Employment | Average Hourly Wage | Average Weekly Wage | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kahuliu-Wailuku-Lahaina | Hawaii | 160 | $23.91 | $949 | $49,370 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward | California | 3,600 | $21.03 | $841 | $43,730 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua | Massachusetts, New Hampshire | 3,390 | $20.09 | $803 | $41,780 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | California | 1,490 | $20.05 | $802 | $41,710 |
| Santa Rosa | California | 310 | $19.65 | $786 | $40,860 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | Washington | 2,840 | $19.55 | $782 | $40,660 |
| Napa | California | 120 | $19.47 | $779 | $40,490 |
| Urban Honolulu | Hawaii | 700 | $19.44 | $778 | $40,430 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia | 3,390 | $19.41 | $776 | $40,370 |
| Barnstable Town | Massachusetts | 240 | $19.36 | $775 | $40,280 |
You now know what the top-paying metropolitan areas are for bakers. However, if you live outside urban areas, you likely want to know how much can a baker make in the highest-paying nonmetropolitan areas. The highest-earning nonmetropolitan area is located in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, you can earn $42,210 on average annually as a baker.
| Nonmetropolitan Area | Employment | Average Hourly Wage | Average Weekly Wage | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonmetropolitan Massachusetts | 80 | $20.29 | $812 | $42,210 |
| North Central Tennessee | 260 | $20.11 | $805 | $41,840 |
| Hawaii/Kauai | 170 | $19.92 | $797 | $41,440 |
| West South Dakota | 60 | $18.76 | $750 | $39,020 |
| Norwest Colorado | 150 | $18.31 | $732 | $38,080 |
Next, we will look at how much does a professional baker make at Panera Bread. Bakers at Panera Bread earn between $14 and $17 an hour. This range represents the 25th and 75th percentile of worker pay. The median average hourly pay for Panera bakers is $15. With an hourly wage of $15, you will earn an average annual salary of $31,200. This salary estimate assumes a 5-day work week and an 8-hour work day.
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After understanding how various factors can affect your income as a baker, let’s look at one of the best ways to protect it. An insurance policy for your business is essential to ensure you can pay for unexpected events like a customer lawsuit or incident of property damage. Court and lawyer fees to protect your business from a claim can easily exceed tens of thousands of dollars. You want a policy with the most comprehensive coverage to give yourself peace of mind. This is why you need a business owner’s policy, which rolls all the necessary coverages into one package. Check out our rankings for the top providers for a business owner’s policy to learn more.
Your business owner’s policy can be outfitted with various types of coverage. Purchase this 100% online from NEXT. Common inclusions of a business owner’s policy are described in the following sections.
General liability insurance: A general liability insurance policy protects your business against third-party claims and lawsuits. This policy will help you pay for court fees and any legal judgments that rule against you. Typically, this policy covers incidents of bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury alleged by third parties like customers or members of the public.
Commercial property insurance: Your commercial property coverage will protect your business building and items on the premises from damage. The amount of coverage depends on the value of the property you are insuring. This policy covers events that can include water damage, theft, explosions, wind damage, lightning, vandalism, fires
Professional liability insurance: This policy protects you from the results of mistakes you make as a professional baker. For this reason, it is sometimes called errors and omissions insurance or professional indemnity insurance. A customer may accuse you of performing bad service, giving bad advice, being negligent, or not delivering a promised service. If they move to file a claim against you, this insurance policy will help cover legal fees and other expenses to protect your business interests. This policy also covers events like copyright infringement, libel, and slander.
Business interruption insurance: Your business interruption insurance benefits kick in when you have to suspend activities due to an event like fire, theft, or other incident of physical damage to your business. While recovering from the damage, you can rely on this policy to help pay employee wages, compensate for lost income, and make rent payments. This policy can also help with relocation costs if your commercial property can no longer sustain your business. A business interruption policy can also help if your business hasn’t completely closed but is experiencing a dip in revenue because of a covered event. You can use this policy to make up the difference for your expected income if this event hadn’t disrupted your business operations.
A business owner’s policy typically costs more than a single policy but is a better long-term choice for your business. You save money with a business owner’s policy compared to the cost of buying multiple separate policies. You also save time since you only need to go to one provider to file a claim for many situations. Also, with a business owner’s policy, you are less likely to have gaps in insurance coverage than relying on a single policy's coverage. A business owner’s policy is a forward-thinking insurance policy you should strongly consider using to protect your business to the greatest capacity.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
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