Cooks, Short Order in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,884
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$7,746
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,459
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — 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
$46,630
Kept after tax
$38,884
Worth in national money
$38,459
State rank
1
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cooks, short order is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $46,630, putting the state 1 of 49 — about 29.96% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Cooks, short order ranks 356 among 491 occupations Arizona publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $46,630, take-home of $38,884 is worth roughly $38,459 in national money. The average lands at $43,360, below the middle of the range.
- For cooks, short order, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,630, ranking 1 of 49 and running about 29.96% 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.
- Position 356 of 491 in Arizona places cooks, short order in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for cooks, short order, whose median is $46,630, the adjusted figure of $38,459 differs little from $38,884 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,360 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,180 |
| This salary | $46,630 |
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 Arizona | $38,884 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,647 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,341 |
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 | $45,680 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,831 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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, short order in Arizona earn under $46,630 and half over. The published range runs $31,790 at the tenth percentile to $50,180 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 Arizona's $38,884, worked from $46,630. 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 356 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,459, the adjusted value of that $46,630 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 356 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, short order in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,790 to $50,180; 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 Arizona take-home of $38,884, on $46,630 for work ranking 356 of 491 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 356 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $38,459 — the adjusted value of that $46,630 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 356 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $43,360, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,790 and the top tenth $50,180, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $38,459 of national purchasing power.
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 Arizona adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,884 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Arizona is $43,360. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,790 to $50,180) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arizona rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $38,459 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 $38,884 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.