Cooks, Fast Food in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,691
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$4,029
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,834
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
$27,720
Kept after tax
$23,691
Worth in national money
$26,834
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Oklahoma pays cooks, fast food a middle wage of $27,720, 41 of 51 states and about 10.26% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Oklahoma this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, fast food ranks 477. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $27,720 you keep $23,691, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $26,834 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $28,200, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma's $27,720 median for cooks, fast food places it 41 of 51 states, about 10.26% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Oklahoma reports, cooks, fast food ranks 477 of 492, 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.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for cooks, fast food on $27,720 is $23,691. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $26,834 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 $28,200 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,900 |
| This salary | $27,720 |
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 | $23,691 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,437 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,686 |
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 | $26,813 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,020 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oklahoma earn less than $27,720. The published range is $22,340 up to $36,900, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $23,691 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $27,720. 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 477 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,834, the adjusted value of that $27,720 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 477 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, fast food in Oklahoma the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,340 to $36,900. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $23,691, from $27,720, 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 477 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $26,834 — the adjusted value of that $27,720 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 477 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $22,340 at the tenth percentile, $36,900 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $26,834 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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $23,691.
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 ($22,340 to $36,900) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
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 $26,834 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 $23,691 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.