Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,998
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$5,502
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,659
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
$36,500
Kept after tax
$30,998
Worth in national money
$30,659
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,500, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 7.42% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Arizona, this one sits low: 461 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $36,500, tax leaves $30,998, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $30,659 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $39,750, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arizona ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, at $36,500 — about 7.42% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers occupies position 461 of 491 in Arizona'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.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers — median $36,500 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $30,998 retained, $30,659 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $39,750 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,580 |
| This salary | $36,500 |
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 | $30,998 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,765 |
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 | $35,865 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,134 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arizona earn less than $36,500. The published range is $30,950 up to $55,580, 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 Arizona's $30,998, worked from $36,500. 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 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,659, the adjusted value of that $36,500 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 461 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,950 to $55,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arizona take-home of $30,998, on $36,500 for work ranking 461 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 461 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $30,659 — the adjusted value of that $36,500 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 461 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $39,750, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,950 at the tenth percentile, $55,580 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Arizona run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $30,659 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Arizona's own levy, $30,998 remains.
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.
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 $39,750. 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 ($30,950 to $55,580) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to 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 $30,659 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 $30,998 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.
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.