Chefs and Head Cooks in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,083
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$11,457
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,330
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$58,540
Kept after tax
$47,083
Worth in national money
$53,330
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chefs and head cooks is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $58,540. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 6.29% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Oklahoma, this sits in the middle: 202 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,540 you keep $47,083, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,330 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $57,190, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For chefs and head cooks, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $58,540, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 6.29%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Chefs and head cooks ranks 202 of 492 occupations in Oklahoma by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for chefs and head cooks on $58,540 is $47,083. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,330 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 $57,190 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Chefs and Head Cooks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,450 |
| This salary | $58,540 |
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 Oklahoma | $47,083 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,217 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,683 |
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 | $55,884 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,244 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 Oklahoma earn under $58,540 and half over. The published range runs $28,920 at the tenth percentile to $77,450 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,083 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $58,540. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 202 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,330 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 202.
- Figures are distribution medians for chefs and head cooks in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,920 to $77,450; 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.
- Retained pay of $47,083, from $58,540, assumes a single Oklahoma filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 202 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,330, worked from $58,540, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 202 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $28,920 and the top tenth $77,450 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,330.
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 Oklahoma's own levy, $47,083 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($28,920) and the ninetieth ($77,450) 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?
Oklahoma'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 $53,330 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 $47,083 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.