Food Preparation Workers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,692
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$4,838
14.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,340
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$34,530
Kept after tax
$29,692
Worth in national money
$32,340
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Ohio is 27 of 51 states for food preparation workers, with a middle wage of $34,530. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Ohio this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, food preparation workers ranks 463. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,530 you keep $29,692, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,340 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $34,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Ohio ranks 27 of 51 for food preparation workers at $34,530. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Ohio reports, food preparation workers ranks 463 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for food preparation workers on $34,530 is $29,692. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,340 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $34,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,500 |
| This salary | $34,530 |
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 Ohio | $29,692 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,925 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,545 |
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 | $34,240 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,868 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 food preparation workers in Ohio earn under $34,530 and half over. The published range runs $26,640 at the tenth percentile to $44,500 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 Ohio's $29,692, worked from $34,530. 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 463 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Ohio, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,340, the adjusted value of that $34,530 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 463 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food preparation workers in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,640 to $44,500; 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 Ohio take-home of $29,692, on $34,530 for work ranking 463 of 494 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 463 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Ohio, so $32,340 — the adjusted value of that $34,530 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 463 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $26,640 and the top tenth $44,500, so most people doing this work in Ohio sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $32,340.
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 Ohio adds its own income tax on top — which is why $29,692 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,640 to $44,500) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $32,340 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 $29,692 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.