Fast Food and Counter Workers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,349
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$3,731
12.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,749
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$30,080
Kept after tax
$26,349
Worth in national money
$29,749
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Dakota pays fast food and counter workers around $30,080 at the midpoint, 24 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 460 occupations North Dakota publishes, fast food and counter workers lands at 454. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $30,080 the take-home is $26,349; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $29,749 would nationally. The average comes to $31,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For fast food and counter workers the North Dakota median is $30,080, ranking 24 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 North Dakota, this work ranks 454 of 460 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.
- Post-tax income for fast food and counter workers in North Dakota, on $30,080, is $26,349 — equivalent to $29,749 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $31,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,380 |
| This salary | $30,080 |
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 Dakota | $26,349 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,349 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,634 |
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 | $30,080 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,185 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 fast food and counter workers in North Dakota earn under $30,080 and half over. The published range runs $22,750 at the tenth percentile to $37,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $26,349, from $30,080, 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 454 of 460 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,749 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 454.
- Figures are distribution medians for fast food and counter workers in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,750 to $37,380; 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 Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,349 from $30,080. 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 454 of 460 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,749, worked from $30,080, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Dakota address, on work sitting at 454 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $31,260, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,750 at the bottom tenth to $37,380 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 North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $29,749 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 North Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,349 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.
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 North Dakota is $31,260. 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 ($22,750 to $37,380) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $29,749 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 $26,349 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.