Cooks, Restaurant in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,784
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$7,016
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,646
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$46,800
Kept after tax
$39,784
Worth in national money
$36,646
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cooks, restaurant is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $46,800, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 25.17% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Washington, this one sits low: 429 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,800 the take-home is $39,784. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,646 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $47,200, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cooks, restaurant, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,800, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 25.17% 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 429 of 493 in Washington'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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $39,784 for cooks, restaurant, from $46,800. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,646. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $47,200 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Cooks, Restaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,910 |
| This salary | $46,800 |
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 Washington | $39,784 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,784 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,294 |
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 | $46,800 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,193 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $46,800. The published range is $37,940 up to $57,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $39,784, from $46,800, 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 429 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,646, the adjusted value of that $46,800 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 429 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, restaurant in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,940 to $57,910. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,784 from $46,800. 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 429 of 493 locally.
- This $36,646 adjusted figure, worked from $46,800, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 429 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 429 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,940 and the top tenth $57,910, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $36,646 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $39,784 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,940 to $57,910) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,646 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $39,784 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.