Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,509
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$7,981
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,570
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
$43,490
Kept after tax
$35,509
Worth in national money
$36,570
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $43,490, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 16.13% above the national middle.
- Within Maine this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 418. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $43,490, take-home of $35,509 is worth roughly $36,570 in national money. The average comes to $43,520, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for cooks, institution and cafeteria, at $43,490 — about 16.13% 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.
- Against every occupation Maine reports, cooks, institution and cafeteria ranks 418 of 484, 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 Maine is near the national base, so for cooks, institution and cafeteria, whose median is $43,490, the adjusted figure of $36,570 differs little from $35,509 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,520 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 | $36,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,700 |
| This salary | $43,490 |
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 | $35,509 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,124 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,633 |
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 | $41,479 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,975 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,490 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,060 and the ninetieth is $50,700 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,509 take-home in Maine comes from $43,490. 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 418 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,570, the adjusted value of that $43,490 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 418 of 484 in the state.
- The Maine median of $43,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,060 to $50,700. 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 $35,509, from $43,490, assumes a single Maine 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 418 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $36,570 — the adjusted value of that $43,490 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 418 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,060 and the top tenth $50,700, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $36,570 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $35,509.
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 ($36,060 to $50,700) 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 $36,570 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 $35,509 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.