Food Preparation Workers in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,042
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$4,878
13.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,006
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — 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
$35,920
Kept after tax
$31,042
Worth in national money
$30,006
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Florida pays food preparation workers a middle wage of $35,920, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 1.7% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Florida, this one sits low: 444 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $35,920, tax leaves $31,042 — and because Florida is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $30,006 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $35,210.
- Florida's median for food preparation workers is $35,920, about 1.7% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Food preparation workers occupies position 444 of 493 in Florida'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, $31,042 remains from the Florida median of $35,920 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $30,006 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $35,210 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $43,300 |
| This salary | $35,920 |
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 Florida | $31,042 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,042 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,938 |
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 | $35,920 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,344 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,920 as a midpoint for Florida, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,190 and the ninetieth is $43,300 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,042 take-home in Florida comes from $35,920. 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 444 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,006 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 444.
- The Florida median of $35,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,190 to $43,300. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,042, from $35,920, assumes a single Florida 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 444 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,006, worked from $35,920, 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 Florida address, on work sitting at 444 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,190 at the bottom tenth to $43,300 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Florida run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $30,006 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $31,042 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 ($28,190 to $43,300) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Florida rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $30,006 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $31,042 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.