Food Preparation Workers in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,467
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$6,143
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,379
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$35,610
Kept after tax
$29,467
Worth in national money
$27,379
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New York pays food preparation workers around $35,610 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations New York publishes, food preparation workers lands at 484. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $35,610, tax leaves $29,467 — and because New York is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $27,379 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $38,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food preparation workers the New York median is $35,610, ranking 18 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 New York, this work ranks 484 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 tax, $29,467 remains from the New York median of $35,610 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $27,379 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $38,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,800 |
| This salary | $35,610 |
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 York | $29,467 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,793 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,309 |
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 | $33,960 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,211 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New York earn less than $35,610. The published range is $33,280 up to $46,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,467 take-home in New York comes from $35,610. 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 484 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of New York, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,379, the adjusted value of that $35,610 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 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for food preparation workers in New York the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,280 to $46,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,467, from $35,610, assumes a single New York 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 484 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New York, so $27,379 — the adjusted value of that $35,610 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 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $38,310, 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 $33,280 at the bottom tenth to $46,800 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 New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $27,379 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New York's own levy, $29,467 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 New York is $38,310. 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 ($33,280 to $46,800) 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 York rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,379 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 $29,467 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.