Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$22,998
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$3,832
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,049
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$26,830
Kept after tax
$22,998
Worth in national money
$26,049
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $26,830. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 21.04% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes, this job lands at 483. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $26,830 you keep $22,998 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,049 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $26,680.
- For dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $26,830, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 21.04%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Oklahoma, this work ranks 483 of 492 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 in Oklahoma is $22,998 after the full tax stack, from $26,830. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,049 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $26,680 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $17,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $26,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,540 |
| This salary | $26,830 |
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 Oklahoma | $22,998 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $23,705 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,655 |
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 | $25,972 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,960 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 Oklahoma earn under $26,830 and half over. The published range runs $17,990 at the tenth percentile to $36,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $22,998 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $26,830. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 483 of 492.
- Two cautions on $26,049, the adjusted value of that $26,830 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oklahoma. 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 483 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $17,990 to $36,540; 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.
- Retained pay of $22,998, from $26,830, assumes a single Oklahoma filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 483 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 51 for it.
- This $26,049 adjusted figure, worked from $26,830, 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 483 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 483 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $17,990 at the tenth percentile, $36,540 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $26,049 in national terms.
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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $22,998.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($17,990 to $36,540) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $26,049 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 $22,998 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.