Private chefs and household staff command record pay as demand surges

Private chefs in the United States can earn up to $300,000 a year as wealthy households compete for a narrower pool of staff that can manage security, technology and sprawling homes, Morgan & Mallet International's 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report puts. Morgan & Mallet International's database covers more than 200,000 candidates and thousands of placements across the US, UK, Europe and the Middle East from January 2024 through October 2025.

Estate management accounted for about 10% of US requests. Families buying multiple properties need workers who can handle security, technical systems and day-to-day coordination. In its 2026 US salary breakdown, the firm puts chief of staff, private chef, estate manager and senior personal assistant at the top of the market, with chiefs of staff and private chefs reaching $300,000-plus.

Staff who sign nondisclosure agreements or otherwise maintain privacy can earn 15% to 20% more, and 77% of personal-assistant jobs placed in Los Angeles require confidentiality agreements. Average household-staff tenure is now about three years, down from decades in the past, even as strong matches still last longer: 92% of the firm's Los Angeles personal-assistant placements stay more than two years, and 92% of its Dubai nanny placements become multi-year contracts.

Salary pressure is strongest in the US and the United Arab Emirates. Brexit and visa restrictions have reduced the supply of European Union staff for UK households. In France, 21% of the firm's clients over the past year wanted domestic couples but could not find them.