Cooks, Restaurant in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,876
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$6,614
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,448
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$36,490
Kept after tax
$29,876
Worth in national money
$31,448
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for cooks, restaurant. The median is $36,490, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Utah, this one sits low: 444 of 487 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,490 the take-home is $29,876; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $31,448 would nationally. The average comes to $37,340, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Utah occupies the middle band for cooks, restaurant: a median of $36,490, ranking 31 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Cooks, restaurant occupies position 444 of 487 in Utah'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.
- Post-tax income for cooks, restaurant in Utah, on $36,490, is $29,876 — equivalent to $31,448 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $37,340 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 | $28,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,580 |
| This salary | $36,490 |
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 Utah | $29,876 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,500 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$968 |
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 | $34,469 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,170 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
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 Utah earn under $36,490 and half over. The published range runs $28,800 at the tenth percentile to $46,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $29,876, from $36,490, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 444 of 487 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,448 uses one figure for the whole of Utah. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 487 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 444.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, restaurant in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,800 to $46,580; 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.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,876 from $36,490. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 444 of 487 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,448, worked from $36,490, 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 Utah address, on work sitting at 444 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,800 at the bottom tenth to $46,580 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $31,448.
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 Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $29,876 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 ($28,800 to $46,580) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $31,448 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 $29,876 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.