Food Preparation Workers in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,733
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$5,047
13.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,123
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — 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
$36,780
Kept after tax
$31,733
Worth in national money
$30,123
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Hampshire is one of the better-paying states for food preparation workers. The middle earner takes $36,780, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 4.13% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in New Hampshire, this one sits low: 461 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $36,780, tax leaves $31,733 — and because New Hampshire is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $30,123 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $36,440.
- New Hampshire ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for food preparation workers, at $36,780 — about 4.13% 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.
- Food preparation workers occupies position 461 of 488 in New Hampshire'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, $31,733 remains from the New Hampshire median of $36,780 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $30,123 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $36,440 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,980 |
| This salary | $36,780 |
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 New Hampshire | $31,733 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,733 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,533 |
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 | $36,780 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,063 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,780 as a midpoint for New Hampshire, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,830 and the ninetieth is $45,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Hampshire's $31,733, worked from $36,780. 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 461 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,123 uses one figure for the whole of New Hampshire. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 461.
- The New Hampshire median of $36,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,830 to $45,980. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The New Hampshire take-home of $31,733, on $36,780 for work ranking 461 of 488 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 461 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,123, worked from $36,780, 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 New Hampshire address, on work sitting at 461 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,830 at the tenth percentile, $45,980 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $30,123 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $31,733 survives, because New Hampshire levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 ($26,830 to $45,980) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Hampshire rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $30,123 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?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $31,733 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.