Cooks, Fast Food in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,589
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$5,531
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,048
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — 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
$34,120
Kept after tax
$28,589
Worth in national money
$29,048
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Minnesota pays cooks, fast food a middle wage of $34,120, ranking 15 of 51 states and sitting about 10.46% above the national middle.
- Within Minnesota this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, fast food ranks 478. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $34,120, take-home of $28,589 is worth roughly $29,048 in national money. The average lands at $34,010, below the middle of the range.
- Minnesota's median for cooks, fast food is $34,120, about 10.46% above the national figure and 15 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Minnesota reports, cooks, fast food ranks 478 of 490, 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 Minnesota is near the national base, so for cooks, fast food, whose median is $34,120, the adjusted figure of $29,048 differs little from $28,589 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $34,010 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $39,560 |
| This salary | $34,120 |
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 Minnesota | $28,589 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,595 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,407 |
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 | $32,867 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,702 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,120 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,550 and the ninetieth is $39,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $28,589 take-home in Minnesota comes from $34,120. 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 478 of 490.
- Two cautions on $29,048, the adjusted value of that $34,120 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Minnesota. 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 478 of 490 locally.
- The Minnesota median of $34,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,550 to $39,560. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $28,589, from $34,120, assumes a single Minnesota 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 478 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- This $29,048 adjusted figure, worked from $34,120, 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 478 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 478 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $24,550 and the top tenth $39,560, so most people doing this work in Minnesota 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 $29,048.
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 Minnesota's own levy, $28,589 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 ($24,550 to $39,560) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota'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 $29,048 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 $28,589 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota 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.