Cooks, Short Order in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,030
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$6,980
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,662
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
$38,010
Kept after tax
$31,030
Worth in national money
$32,662
State rank
16
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Utah pays cooks, short order a middle wage of $38,010, ranking 16 of 49 states and sitting about 5.94% above the national middle.
- Against 487 occupations Utah publishes, cooks, short order lands at 430. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,010 you keep $31,030 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $32,662 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $37,990.
- Utah's median for cooks, short order is $38,010, about 5.94% above the national figure and 16 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Utah, this work ranks 430 of 487 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Utah is $31,030 after the full tax stack, from $38,010. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,662 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,990 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,410 |
| This salary | $38,010 |
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 | $31,030 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,721 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,010 |
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 | $35,905 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,222 |
| 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, short order in Utah earn under $38,010 and half over. The published range runs $21,820 at the tenth percentile to $49,410 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 Utah's $31,030, worked from $38,010. 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 430 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,662, the adjusted value of that $38,010 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 430 of 487 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, short order in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $21,820 to $49,410; 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 Utah take-home of $31,030, on $38,010 for work ranking 430 of 487 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 430 of 487 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $32,662 — the adjusted value of that $38,010 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 430 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $21,820 and the top tenth $49,410 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Utah sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $32,662 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Utah's own levy, $31,030 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($21,820) and the ninetieth ($49,410) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $32,662 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 $31,030 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.
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.