Fast Food and Counter Workers in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,826
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$7,224
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,572
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$35,050
Kept after tax
$27,826
Worth in national money
$26,572
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oregon is one of the better-paying states for fast food and counter workers. The middle earner takes $35,050, which ranks 10 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 12.34% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Oregon, this one sits low: 484 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $35,050, tax leaves $27,826 — and because Oregon is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $26,572 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $36,200, since top earners drag the number up.
- Oregon ranks 10 of 51 states publishing a median for fast food and counter workers, at $35,050 — about 12.34% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Fast food and counter workers occupies position 484 of 489 in Oregon'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 tax, $27,826 remains from the Oregon median of $35,050 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $26,572 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $36,200 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,370 |
| This salary | $35,050 |
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 Oregon | $27,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,343 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,653 |
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 | $31,918 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,628 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
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 Oregon earn under $35,050 and half over. The published range runs $30,950 at the tenth percentile to $44,370 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oregon's $27,826, worked from $35,050. 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 484 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oregon, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,572, the adjusted value of that $35,050 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 484 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for fast food and counter workers in Oregon, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,950 to $44,370; 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.
- The Oregon take-home of $27,826, on $35,050 for work ranking 484 of 489 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 484 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oregon, so $26,572 — the adjusted value of that $35,050 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 484 of 489 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 $36,200 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 $30,950 at the bottom tenth to $44,370 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $26,572 of national purchasing power.
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; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $27,826.
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 Oregon is $36,200. 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 ($30,950 to $44,370) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $26,572 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $27,826 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.