Cooks, Restaurant in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,685
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$5,495
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,660
Alabama costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alabama — 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
$32,180
Kept after tax
$26,685
Worth in national money
$29,660
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for cooks, restaurant. The middle earner takes $32,180, ranking 46 of 51 states — about 13.93% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Alabama, this one sits low: 431 of 482 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $32,180 you keep $26,685, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $29,660 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $33,000, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama ranks 46 of 51 for cooks, restaurant, with a median of $32,180 — about 13.93% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Cooks, restaurant occupies position 431 of 482 in Alabama's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for cooks, restaurant on $32,180 is $26,685. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $29,660 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 $33,000 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Restaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $39,220 |
| This salary | $32,180 |
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 Alabama | $26,685 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,037 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$809 |
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 | $30,498 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$978 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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, restaurant in Alabama earn under $32,180 and half over. The published range runs $24,170 at the tenth percentile to $39,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $26,685 take-home in Alabama comes from $32,180. 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 431 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,660 uses one figure for the whole of Alabama. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 431.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, restaurant in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,170 to $39,220; 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.
- Retained pay of $26,685, from $32,180, assumes a single Alabama 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 431 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,660, worked from $32,180, 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 Alabama address, on work sitting at 431 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $24,170 at the bottom tenth to $39,220 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. Alabama is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $29,660 in national terms.
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 Alabama adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,685 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($24,170 to $39,220) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Alabama rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Alabama'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 $29,660 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 $26,685 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Alabama 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.