Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,357
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$9,413
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,317
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$47,770
Kept after tax
$38,357
Worth in national money
$35,317
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Hawaii is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $47,770, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 27.56% above the national middle.
- Against 437 occupations Hawaii publishes, this job lands at 340. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Hawaii is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $47,770 the take-home is $38,357; in national-average money that behaves like $35,317. The average comes to $52,100, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Hawaii ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for cooks, institution and cafeteria, at $47,770 — about 27.56% 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 Hawaii, this work ranks 340 of 437 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.
- Take-home for cooks, institution and cafeteria in Hawaii, on $47,770, is $38,357; deflated by the state's price level, $35,317. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $52,100 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,020 |
| This salary | $47,770 |
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 Hawaii | $38,357 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,563 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,426 |
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 | $45,025 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,771 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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, institution and cafeteria in Hawaii earn under $47,770 and half over. The published range runs $38,250 at the tenth percentile to $65,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Hawaii's $38,357, worked from $47,770. 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 340 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,317, the adjusted value of that $47,770 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 340 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, institution and cafeteria in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,250 to $65,020; 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.
- The Hawaii take-home of $38,357, on $47,770 for work ranking 340 of 437 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 340 of 437 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $35,317 — the adjusted value of that $47,770 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 340 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $52,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,250 at the tenth percentile, $65,020 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $35,317 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $38,357.
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.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Hawaii is $52,100. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,250 to $65,020) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $35,317 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,357 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.