Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$19,864
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$3,316
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$22,755
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$23,180
Kept after tax
$19,864
Worth in national money
$22,755
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $23,180, ranking 49 of 51 states — about 31.78% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Mississippi, this one sits low: 476 of 486 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $23,180 you keep $19,864, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $22,755 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $24,480, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi ranks 49 of 51 for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, with a median of $23,180 — about 31.78% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers occupies position 476 of 486 in Mississippi'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.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers on $23,180 is $19,864. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $22,755 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $24,480 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $16,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $23,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $30,840 |
| This salary | $23,180 |
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 Mississippi | $19,864 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $20,699 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,455 |
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 | $22,166 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,717 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $23,180 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $16,880 and the ninetieth is $30,840 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $19,864, from $23,180, 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 476 of 486 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $22,755, the adjusted value of that $23,180 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 476 of 486 in the state.
- The Mississippi median of $23,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $16,880 to $30,840. 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 Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $19,864 from $23,180. 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 476 of 486 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $22,755 — the adjusted value of that $23,180 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 476 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $24,480 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $16,880 at the bottom tenth to $30,840 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $22,755 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $19,864.
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 Mississippi is $24,480. 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 ($16,880 to $30,840) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi'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 $22,755 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 $19,864 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.