Cooks, Fast Food in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,190
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$6,160
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,092
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$36,350
Kept after tax
$30,190
Worth in national money
$31,092
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is one of the better-paying states for cooks, fast food. The middle earner takes $36,350, which ranks 10 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 17.68% above the national middle.
- Against 484 occupations Maine publishes, cooks, fast food lands at 469. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $36,350, tax leaves $30,190, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $31,092 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $36,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maine ranks 10 of 51 states publishing a median for cooks, fast food, at $36,350 — about 17.68% 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.
- Within Maine, this work ranks 469 of 484 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.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for cooks, fast food — median $36,350 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $30,190 retained, $31,092 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $36,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,280 |
| This salary | $36,350 |
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 Maine | $30,190 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,387 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,208 |
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 | $34,859 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,460 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,350 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,350 and the ninetieth is $44,280 — 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 Maine's $30,190, worked from $36,350. 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 469 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,092 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 469.
- The Maine median of $36,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,350 to $44,280. 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 Maine take-home of $30,190, on $36,350 for work ranking 469 of 484 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 469 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,092, worked from $36,350, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 469 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,350 and the top tenth $44,280, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $31,092.
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 Maine's own levy, $30,190 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,350 to $44,280) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $31,092 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 $30,190 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.