Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,715
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$3,845
14.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,191
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — 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
$27,560
Kept after tax
$23,715
Worth in national money
$25,191
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $27,560, 35 of 51 states and about 18.89% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 486. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $27,560 you keep $23,715, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $25,191 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $27,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's $27,560 median for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers places it 35 of 51 states, about 18.89% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers ranks 486 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers on $27,560 is $23,715. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $25,191 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 $27,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $15,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,870 |
| This salary | $27,560 |
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 North Carolina | $23,715 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,306 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$179 |
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 | $26,842 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$211 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in North Carolina earn under $27,560 and half over. The published range runs $15,920 at the tenth percentile to $37,870 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $23,715, from $27,560, 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 486 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $25,191, the adjusted value of that $27,560 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 486 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $15,920 to $37,870; 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.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $23,715 from $27,560. 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 486 of 489 locally.
- This $25,191 adjusted figure, worked from $27,560, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 486 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 486 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $15,920 at the bottom tenth to $37,870 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $25,191 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $23,715 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($15,920) and the ninetieth ($37,870) 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?
North Carolina'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 $25,191 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 $23,715 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina 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.