Fast Food and Counter Workers in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,493
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$4,297
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,570
Indiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Indiana — 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
$28,790
Kept after tax
$24,493
Worth in national money
$26,570
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays fast food and counter workers around $28,790 at the midpoint, 31 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Indiana publishes, fast food and counter workers lands at 482. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Indiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,790 you keep $24,493, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $26,570 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $28,980, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For fast food and counter workers the Indiana median is $28,790, ranking 31 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Indiana, this work ranks 482 of 493 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.
- After federal, FICA and Indiana income tax, retained pay for fast food and counter workers on $28,790 is $24,493. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $26,570 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 $28,980 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,820 |
| This salary | $28,790 |
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 Indiana | $24,493 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,313 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$521 |
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 | $27,787 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$630 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Indiana earn less than $28,790. The published range is $22,110 up to $35,820, 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 Indiana's $24,493, worked from $28,790. 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 482 of 493.
- Two cautions on $26,570, the adjusted value of that $28,790 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Indiana. 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 482 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for fast food and counter workers in Indiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,110 to $35,820. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Indiana take-home of $24,493, on $28,790 for work ranking 482 of 493 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 482 of 493 in the state.
- This $26,570 adjusted figure, worked from $28,790, 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 482 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 482 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,110 at the bottom tenth to $35,820 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 Indiana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $26,570 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Indiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $24,493 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,110 to $35,820) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Indiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Indiana'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 $26,570 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 $24,493 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Indiana 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.