Cooks, Fast Food in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,008
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$4,652
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,702
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — 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
$32,660
Kept after tax
$28,008
Worth in national money
$27,702
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arizona is 19 of 51 states for cooks, fast food, with a middle wage of $32,660. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Arizona this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, fast food ranks 489. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $32,660, take-home of $28,008 is worth roughly $27,702 in national money. The average comes to $33,330, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona ranks 19 of 51 for cooks, fast food at $32,660. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Arizona reports, cooks, fast food ranks 489 of 491, 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.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for cooks, fast food, whose median is $32,660, the adjusted figure of $27,702 differs little from $28,008 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $33,330 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,440 |
| This salary | $32,660 |
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 Arizona | $28,008 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,422 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,546 |
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 | $32,145 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,870 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $32,660 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,580 and the ninetieth is $36,440 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $28,008, worked from $32,660. 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 489 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,702 uses one figure for the whole of Arizona. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 489.
- The Arizona median of $32,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,580 to $36,440. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arizona take-home of $28,008, on $32,660 for work ranking 489 of 491 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 489 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,702, worked from $32,660, 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 Arizona address, on work sitting at 489 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,580 and the top tenth $36,440, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $27,702 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Arizona then takes its own share, leaving $28,008.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,580 to $36,440) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arizona rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,702 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 $28,008 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona 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.