Cooks, Fast Food in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,845
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$4,075
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,687
Wisconsin costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wisconsin — 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
$28,920
Kept after tax
$24,845
Worth in national money
$26,687
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Wisconsin pays cooks, fast food around $28,920 at the midpoint, 34 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 491 occupations Wisconsin publishes, cooks, fast food lands at 483. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $28,920 you keep $24,845 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,687 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $29,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For cooks, fast food the Wisconsin median is $28,920, ranking 34 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 Wisconsin, this work ranks 483 of 491 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.
- Retained pay in Wisconsin is $24,845 after the full tax stack, from $28,920. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,687 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $29,310 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 | $22,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $34,920 |
| This salary | $28,920 |
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 Wisconsin | $24,845 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,417 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$531 |
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 | $28,215 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$642 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
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 Wisconsin earn under $28,920 and half over. The published range runs $22,550 at the tenth percentile to $34,920 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $24,845, from $28,920, 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 483 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,687 uses one figure for the whole of Wisconsin. 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 483.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, fast food in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,550 to $34,920; 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 Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,845 from $28,920. 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 483 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,687, worked from $28,920, 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 Wisconsin address, on work sitting at 483 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,550 at the bottom tenth to $34,920 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Wisconsin is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $26,687 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; Wisconsin then takes its own share, leaving $24,845.
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 ($22,550 to $34,920) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Wisconsin rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Wisconsin'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 $26,687 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 $24,845 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Wisconsin 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.