Cooks, Fast Food in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,329
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$4,541
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,476
Indiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Indiana — 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
$29,870
Kept after tax
$25,329
Worth in national money
$27,476
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays cooks, fast food around $29,870 at the midpoint, 31 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Indiana publishes, cooks, fast food lands at 477. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Indiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $29,870 the take-home is $25,329; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $27,476 would nationally. The average comes to $30,720, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For cooks, fast food the Indiana median is $29,870, ranking 31 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Indiana, this work ranks 477 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for cooks, fast food in Indiana, on $29,870, is $25,329 — equivalent to $27,476 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $30,720 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,310 |
| This salary | $29,870 |
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 Indiana | $25,329 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,181 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$535 |
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 | $28,810 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$647 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 cooks, fast food in Indiana earn under $29,870 and half over. The published range runs $24,050 at the tenth percentile to $37,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Indiana the take-home figure of $25,329, from $29,870, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 477 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $27,476, the adjusted value of that $29,870 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Indiana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 477 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, fast food in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,050 to $37,310; 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.
- Take-home for Indiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $25,329 from $29,870. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 477 of 493 locally.
- This $27,476 adjusted figure, worked from $29,870, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 477 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 477 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $24,050 at the tenth percentile, $37,310 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Indiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $27,476 in national terms.
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; Indiana then takes its own share, leaving $25,329.
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 ($24,050 to $37,310) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Indiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Indiana'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 $27,476 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 $25,329 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Indiana 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.