Cooks, Restaurant in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,590
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$9,510
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,076
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$43,100
Kept after tax
$33,590
Worth in national money
$32,076
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cooks, restaurant is strong here. Oregon's middle earner gets $43,100, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 15.27% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Oregon, this one sits low: 439 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Oregon is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $43,100 the take-home is $33,590; in national-average money that behaves like $32,076. The average comes to $44,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For cooks, restaurant, Oregon sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $43,100, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 15.27% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Cooks, restaurant occupies position 439 of 489 in Oregon'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.
- Take-home for cooks, restaurant in Oregon, on $43,100, is $33,590; deflated by the state's price level, $32,076. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $44,130 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Restaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,280 |
| This salary | $43,100 |
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 Oregon | $33,590 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,811 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,805 |
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 | $39,091 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,021 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
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 Oregon earn under $43,100 and half over. The published range runs $36,080 at the tenth percentile to $58,280 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 Oregon's $33,590, worked from $43,100. 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 439 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oregon, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,076, the adjusted value of that $43,100 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 439 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, restaurant in Oregon, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,080 to $58,280; 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 Oregon take-home of $33,590, on $43,100 for work ranking 439 of 489 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 439 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oregon, so $32,076 — the adjusted value of that $43,100 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 439 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,080 at the tenth percentile, $58,280 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Oregon run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $32,076 — 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; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $33,590.
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 ($36,080 to $58,280) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $32,076 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 $33,590 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.