Cooks, Short Order in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,538
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$6,222
14.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,656
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
$42,760
Kept after tax
$36,538
Worth in national money
$33,656
State rank
6
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cooks, short order is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $42,760, putting the state 6 of 49 — about 19.18% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 493 occupations Washington publishes, cooks, short order lands at 461. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $42,760 the take-home is $36,538. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $33,656 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $43,990, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cooks, short order, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $42,760, ranking 6 of 49 and running about 19.18% 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.
- Within Washington, this work ranks 461 of 493 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 after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $36,538 for cooks, short order, from $42,760. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,656. ⚠️ 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 $43,990 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,660 |
| This salary | $42,760 |
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 | $36,538 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,538 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,944 |
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 | $42,760 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,770 |
| 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 $42,760. The published range is $34,650 up to $55,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $36,538, worked from $42,760. 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 461 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,656 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 461.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, short order in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,650 to $55,660. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Washington take-home of $36,538, on $42,760 for work ranking 461 of 493 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 461 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,656, worked from $42,760, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 461 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,650 and the top tenth $55,660, so most people doing this work in Washington 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 $33,656 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $36,538 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,650 to $55,660) 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 $33,656 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 $36,538 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.
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.