Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,910
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,580
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,285
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$39,490
Kept after tax
$33,910
Worth in national money
$38,285
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Dakota is 20 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $39,490. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 396. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,490 you keep $33,910, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $38,285 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Dakota ranks 20 of 51 for cooks, institution and cafeteria at $39,490. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, cooks, institution and cafeteria ranks 396 of 460, 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 North Dakota income tax, retained pay for cooks, institution and cafeteria on $39,490 is $33,910. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $38,285 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 $41,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $31,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,670 |
| This salary | $39,490 |
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 North Dakota | $33,910 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,910 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,389 |
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 | $39,490 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,099 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,490 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,300 and the ninetieth is $48,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $33,910, worked from $39,490. 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 396 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,285, the adjusted value of that $39,490 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 396 of 460 in the state.
- The North Dakota median of $39,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,300 to $48,670. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The North Dakota take-home of $33,910, on $39,490 for work ranking 396 of 460 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 396 of 460 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $38,285 — the adjusted value of that $39,490 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 396 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,140, 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 — $31,300 at the tenth percentile, $48,670 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $38,285 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $33,910 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 North Dakota is $41,140. 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 ($31,300 to $48,670) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $38,285 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 $33,910 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.