Sushi Chef and Japanese Chef Salary Benchmarks by Country

Most published "sushi chef salary" figures come from self-reported aggregator sites with no disclosed sample. This page uses government wage statistics instead: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the UK Office for National Statistics, Singapore's Ministry of Manpower, Australia's Fair Work Commission awards, and Japan's own MHLW survey. Every figure is labelled with its period and linked to the source.

1. The number your candidate is comparing against

A chef considering a move out of Japan is measuring your offer against Japanese pay. Two official figures matter.

The average age in that MHLW cooking category is 44.9 with 9.2 years of tenure, and the sample is 439,320 workers. So the typical Japanese cook is mid-career, reasonably settled, and earning below the national average. That is the gap an overseas offer is competing with — and it is why relocation offers from abroad land at all.

2. United States

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release, SOC 35-1011 Chefs and Head Cooks:

Total employment in the occupation was 220,300 in 2025. For comparison, Cooks, Restaurant (SOC 35-2014) had a median of $37,390 a year, or $17.98 an hour — a useful reminder of how much the "chef" label is worth in the US market.

Highest-paying states, median annual wage: Rhode Island $79,930, Hawaii $77,360, District of Columbia $76,420, Washington $76,010, North Dakota $74,740, New Jersey $74,280.

Key metros for chefs and head cooks, median annual:

Read the 90th percentile column carefully. In New York the spread between the bottom and top decile is $46,530 to $120,370. A recognised counter chef in a serious omakase room is competing at the top of that range, not the middle.

3. United Kingdom

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, April 2025 (2025 provisional edition), SOC 2020 code 5434 Chefs:

Median full-time chef pay rose 5.9% year on year. Note the wide gap between the all-employee and full-time medians — a lot of UK chef employment is part-time, which drags the headline figure down.

For sponsorship purposes, the relevant figure is different from the market figure: the Skilled Worker going rate for code 5434 is £33,400 a year (£17.13/hr), and the general salary threshold is £41,700, with the higher of the two applying. That is well above the ONS median — but as covered in our visa guide, the route is in practice closed to newly recruited overseas chefs since 22 July 2025, so the going rate now matters mainly for workers already in the system.

4. Singapore

Ministry of Manpower Occupational Wage Survey, resident full-time employees, June 2024, in establishments with at least 25 employees. Gross monthly wages in Singapore dollars:

MOM published a June 2025 edition of these tables on 30 June 2026; the June 2024 figures above are the ones we were able to verify directly, so treat them as a floor rather than as current-year.

The Singapore number to internalise: a median chef at S$3,850 a month sits below the Employment Pass qualifying salary at every age band. This is covered in detail in hiring a Japanese chef in Singapore.

5. Australia

Minimum award rates, effective 1 July 2026, identical in the Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119) and the Hospitality Industry (General) Award (MA000009). Adult, full-time base rate before penalties and loadings:

These are legal minimums, not market rates. And for a sponsored hire they are beside the point, because the Core Skills Income Threshold for 2026–27 is A$79,423 — roughly A$16,000 above even the top cook grade. If you sponsor, you pay the threshold.

6. Where a visa floor beats the market rate

In three of the markets above, the immigration salary floor is higher than what the occupation typically pays locally. That is a deliberate policy design, and it changes your budget more than any market benchmark does.

7. The cost beyond salary

Verified employer-side costs, as of September 2026:

United Kingdom. Sponsor licence £611 (small) or £1,682 (medium/large). Certificate of Sponsorship £525. Skilled Worker visa from outside the UK £819 for up to three years, £1,618 for longer. Immigration Skills Charge £480 per 12 months (small/charitable) or £1,320 (medium/large). Immigration Health Surcharge £1,035 per person per year. A three-year large-sponsor package adds up to roughly £9,200 on top of salary, plus the licence if you do not already hold one.

Australia. Skilling Australians Fund levy of A$1,200 per year of proposed stay if annual turnover is under A$10 million, A$1,800 per year otherwise — so A$7,200 on a four-year nomination for a larger group. Home Affairs is explicit that non-monetary benefits such as accommodation or a car do not count towards the income threshold and must be paid in addition.

Singapore. The S Pass levy is S$650 per month per worker, a single harmonised rate since 1 September 2025. Services-sector Work Permit levies run from S$300–800 a month depending on tier and skill level. These are recurring costs, not one-offs.

United States. For H-2B, the employer owes inbound and outbound transportation under 20 CFR 655.20(j), plus daily travel subsistence of at least $16.78 a day (up to $178.00 with receipts), per the Department of Labor's rate effective 7 April 2026.

8. Building an offer that gets accepted

• Anchor on the right percentile. For a specialist Japanese-cuisine chef, the 75th percentile of the local "chefs" statistic is a more honest starting point than the median.
• Show the net, not the gross. A chef in Japan does not know your country's tax rates or social insurance. Give them a take-home figure and the assumptions behind it.
• Price the first three months separately. Flight, deposit, first month's rent and a furniture allowance are small next to a year of salary, and they are what makes the move feel possible.
• Be precise about days off and closing time. These are frequently the deciding factor, and vague answers read as a warning.
• Write down the renewal path. "We will sponsor a renewal if things go well" is worth more in writing than a slightly higher salary verbally.

Figures are as published by the sources listed and reflect the periods stated, not necessarily today. Wage surveys are revised and immigration thresholds are indexed. Check the primary source before using any number in a contract or a visa application.