Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,828
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$6,182
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,160
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$39,010
Kept after tax
$32,828
Worth in national money
$29,160
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays food servers, nonrestaurant a middle wage of $39,010, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 10.32% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 466 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $39,010, tax leaves $32,828 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $29,160 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $43,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- California's median for food servers, nonrestaurant is $39,010, about 10.32% above the national figure and 2 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 servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 466 of 492 in California'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, $32,828 remains from the California median of $39,010 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $29,160 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $43,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,550 |
| This salary | $39,010 |
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 California | $32,828 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,525 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,339 |
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 | $38,144 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,457 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,010 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,120 and the ninetieth is $57,550 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $32,828, from $39,010, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 466 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,160, the adjusted value of that $39,010 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 466 of 492 in the state.
- The California median of $39,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,120 to $57,550. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,828 from $39,010. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 466 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $29,160 — the adjusted value of that $39,010 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 466 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $43,580, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,120 at the bottom tenth to $57,550 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 $29,160 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; California then takes its own share, leaving $32,828.
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 California is $43,580. 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 ($35,120 to $57,550) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,160 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 $32,828 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.