Bartenders in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,115
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$6,665
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,972
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$38,780
Kept after tax
$32,115
Worth in national money
$30,972
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Connecticut is one of the better-paying states for bartenders. The middle earner takes $38,780, which ranks 11 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 12.93% above the national middle.
- Within Connecticut this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, bartenders ranks 432. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Connecticut is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $38,780 the take-home is $32,115; in national-average money that behaves like $30,972. The average comes to $51,020, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Connecticut ranks 11 of 51 states publishing a median for bartenders, at $38,780 — about 12.93% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Connecticut reports, bartenders ranks 432 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Take-home for bartenders in Connecticut, on $38,780, is $32,115; deflated by the state's price level, $30,972. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $51,020 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,760 |
| This salary | $38,780 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Connecticut | $32,115 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,340 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,337 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $37,255 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,036 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of bartenders in Connecticut earn under $38,780 and half over. The published range runs $34,010 at the tenth percentile to $81,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Connecticut's $32,115, worked from $38,780. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 432 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Connecticut, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,972, the adjusted value of that $38,780 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 432 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bartenders in Connecticut, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,010 to $81,760; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Connecticut take-home of $32,115, on $38,780 for work ranking 432 of 482 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 432 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Connecticut, so $30,972 — the adjusted value of that $38,780 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 432 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $51,020, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $34,010 and the top tenth $81,760 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $30,972 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Connecticut's own levy, $32,115 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Connecticut is $51,020. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,010) and the ninetieth ($81,760) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $30,972 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $32,115 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.