Cooks, Restaurant in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,720
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,680
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,571
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — 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
$35,400
Kept after tax
$29,720
Worth in national money
$31,571
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays cooks, restaurant a middle wage of $35,400, 40 of 51 states and about 5.32% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, restaurant ranks 441. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,400 you keep $29,720, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,571 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $35,140, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- North Carolina's $35,400 median for cooks, restaurant places it 40 of 51 states, about 5.32% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, cooks, restaurant ranks 441 of 489, 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 Carolina income tax, retained pay for cooks, restaurant on $35,400 is $29,720. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,571 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 $35,140 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in 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 | $27,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,450 |
| This salary | $35,400 |
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 Carolina | $29,720 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,624 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$56 |
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 | $34,275 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$68 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Carolina earn less than $35,400. The published range is $27,980 up to $45,450, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,720 take-home in North Carolina comes from $35,400. 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 441 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,571, the adjusted value of that $35,400 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 441 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, restaurant in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,980 to $45,450. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,720, from $35,400, assumes a single North Carolina 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 441 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $31,571 — the adjusted value of that $35,400 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 441 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $27,980 and the top tenth $45,450, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $31,571 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 North Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $29,720 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 ($27,980 to $45,450) 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 Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Carolina'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 $31,571 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 $29,720 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina 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.