Bakers

What Bakers Do

Mix and bake ingredients to produce breads, rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, or other baked goods.

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

Moderate-term on-the-job training

Self-employed

6.2%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

• Production and Processingimportance 3.8/5
• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.8/5
• Food Productionimportance 3.4/5
• English Languageimportance 3.3/5
• Mathematicsimportance 3.1/5
• Administration and Managementimportance 3.0/5
• Sales and Marketingimportance 2.9/5
• Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.6/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

• Contact With Others4.4/5
• Spend Time Standing4.4/5
• Time Pressure4.3/5
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.3/5
• Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.2/5
• Freedom to Make Decisions4.2/5

Related Careers

• Food Batchmakers
• Chefs and Head Cooks
• Cooks, Restaurant
• Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
• Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
• Food Preparation Workers
• Butchers and Meat Cutters
• Cooks, Fast Food

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

• Anesthesiologists93% skill match
• Sewers, Hand93% skill match
• Airfield Operations Specialists93% skill match
• Registered Nurses92% skill match
• Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers92% skill match
• Occupational Health and Safety Technicians91% skill match
• Fire Inspectors and Investigators91% skill match
• Air Traffic Controllers91% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

• Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.0/5
• Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
• Operations Monitoringimportance 2.9/5
• Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.9/5
• Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.8/5
• Service Orientationimportance 2.5/5
• Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.3/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Cautiousness
• Achievement Orientation
• Perseverance
• Stress Tolerance
• Self-Control

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

• RealisticHigh
• ConventionalMedium
• ArtisticLow
• EnterprisingLow
• SocialLow
• InvestigativeLow

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where bakers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1. 1Rocky Mount, NC3.97× national avg
2. 2Aguadilla, PR3.10× national avg
3. 3Arecibo, PR2.83× national avg
4. 4Traverse City, MI2.64× national avg
5. 5Twin Falls, ID2.60× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

• Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaCareer Change
• Sewers, HandLateral Move
• Occupational Health and Safety TechniciansCareer Change
• Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory ClerksCareer Change

See the full career path from Bakers →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.