Chefs and Head Cooks in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,127
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$12,263
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,272
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$58,390
Kept after tax
$46,127
Worth in national money
$51,272
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kansas is among the lower-paying states for chefs and head cooks. The middle earner takes $58,390, ranking 37 of 51 states — about 6.53% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Kansas reports figures for, this is number 228.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,390 you keep $46,127, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,272 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $60,930, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kansas ranks 37 of 51 for chefs and head cooks, with a median of $58,390 — about 6.53% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Kansas's occupational distribution, chefs and head cooks sits at 228 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Kansas income tax, retained pay for chefs and head cooks on $58,390 is $46,127. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,272 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $60,930 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chefs and Head Cooks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,990 |
| This salary | $58,390 |
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 Kansas | $46,127 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,096 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$748 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $54,694 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$905 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 chefs and head cooks in Kansas earn under $58,390 and half over. The published range runs $36,540 at the tenth percentile to $89,990 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 Kansas's $46,127, worked from $58,390. 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 228 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,272, the adjusted value of that $58,390 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 228 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chefs and head cooks in Kansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,540 to $89,990; 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 Kansas take-home of $46,127, on $58,390 for work ranking 228 of 488 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 228 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kansas, so $51,272 — the adjusted value of that $58,390 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 228 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $60,930 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,540 at the bottom tenth to $89,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $51,272 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Kansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $46,127 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Kansas is $60,930. 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 ($36,540) and the ninetieth ($89,990) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $51,272 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $46,127 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.