Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,538
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$5,472
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,125
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$36,010
Kept after tax
$30,538
Worth in national money
$27,125
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $36,010, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 5.97% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 490 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,010 the take-home is $30,538. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $27,125 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $40,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $36,010, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 5.97% 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.
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers occupies position 490 of 492 in California'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 California income tax is $30,538 for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, from $36,010. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,125. ⚠️ 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 $40,660 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: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,630 |
| This salary | $36,010 |
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 California | $30,538 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,114 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,893 |
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 | $35,293 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,918 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,010 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,320 and the ninetieth is $50,630 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $30,538, from $36,010, 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 490 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,125, the adjusted value of that $36,010 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 490 of 492 in the state.
- The California median of $36,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,320 to $50,630. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,538 from $36,010. 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 490 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $27,125 — the adjusted value of that $36,010 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 490 of 492 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 $40,660, 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 $34,320 and the top tenth $50,630, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. California costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $27,125 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; California then takes its own share, leaving $30,538.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 California is $40,660. 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 ($34,320 to $50,630) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,125 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 $30,538 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.