Culinary Schools in Illinois
Restaurants, chefs, and restaurateurs across Illinois continue to garner acclaim from publications like Michelin Guide, Forbes, and Wine and Spectator. This state of more than 13 million people take their food seriously. Dominated by the Chicago metro region, Illinois' culinary arts industry is a $22.4 billion per year industry, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA). This presents a huge opportunity for prospective students who are thinking about a culinary career. Consider this: Illinois boasts more than 27,000 restaurants and drinking establishments who employ nearly half a million individuals. The state is known for deep-dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches, and hot dogs, but that only scratches the surface. Illinois' 74,300 farms cover nearly 27 million acres, about 75% of the state's total land area. With 2,640 food manufacturing companies, Illinois turns the state's crops and livestock into food and industrial products. In fact, the state ranks first in the nation with $180 billion in processed food sales.
Whether your goal is to own a restaurant, become an executive chef, sous chef, pastry chef, hospitality director, or sommelier, a degree in the culinary arts can level the playing field when building a career in the food sector. According to employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) bakers, chefs, and restaurant managers are expected to see job gains throughout Illinois between 2.9% and 5.7% into 2022. Chefs and head cooks can expect a yearly salary around $43,000, bakers around $25,000 and food service managers in the low $50,000s. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also lists the top five paying metropolitan areas in the entire state for chefs including Chicago metro with an average salary of $44,930. For restaurant managers, the top paying metro areas in Illinois included the Chicago-metro region with an average salary of nearly $50,000. For bakers, the best paying areas include Chicago ($24,840), Peoria ($23,290), and Springfield ($22,410). As the state continues to place its mark on the culinary world, Illinois will remain a popular place for graduates of culinary schools to start their careers.
There are 23 accredited culinary schools in Illinois and traditionally speaking, these culinary schools offer students four professional concentrations: Culinary Management, Baking & Pastry Arts, Hospitality Management, and Culinary Arts. Although Chicago is the epicenter of the culinary movement in Illinois, other cities are continuing to make themselves into foodie destinations. Typically the road to a culinary career begins with graduating from a culinary arts school and in Illinois, even famous chefs such as Chef Grant Aschatz of Alinea attended a culinary institution.
Illinois holds the promise of a strong culinary movement. Part of that allure is its central location, and easy access from most anywhere in the country will keep demand strong for those in the food service industry. Like many states, Illinois also has a strong mobile chef component, be that food trucks or catering. In fact Illinois has its own food truck association and more and more chefs are opting for the freedoms of this type of venue over traditional sit down establishments.
Culinary Schools in Illinois by City
Culinary Schools Near Chicago Illnois
City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington CollegeChicago IL
www.ccc.edu/colleges/washington/Pages/default.aspx
City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King CollegeChicago IL
www.ccc.edu/colleges/kennedy/pages/default.aspx
The Illinois Institute of Art-ChicagoChicago IL
Kendall CollegeChicago IL
City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman CollegeChicago, IL
www.ccc.edu/colleges/truman/pages/default.aspx
Robert Morris University IllinoisChicago IL
Saint Augustine CollegeChicago IL
City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X CollegeChicago IL
www.ccc.edu/colleges/malcolm-x/pages/default.aspx
Moraine Valley Community CollegePalos Hills IL
Harper CollegePalatine IL
Triton CollegeRiver Grove IL
College of DuPageGlen Ellyn IL
College of Lake CountyGrayslake IL
Elgin Community CollegeElgin IL
McHenry County CollegeCrystal Lake IL
Culinary Schools Near Springfield Illnois
Lincoln Land Community CollegeSpringfield IL
Parkland CollegeChampaign IL
Joliet Junior CollegeJoliet IL
Richland Community CollegeDecatur IL
Southwestern Illinois CollegeBelleville IL
Culinary Schools in Peoria Illinois
Illinois Central CollegeEast Peoria IL
Carl Sandburg CollegeGalesburg IL
Other Cities in Illinois
Vatterott College-QuincyQuincy IL
John Wood Community CollegeQuincy IL
Danville Area Community CollegeDanville IL
Olney Central CollegeOlney IL
Rend Lake CollegeIna IL
Kaskaskia CollegeCentralia IL