Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,443
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$4,487
13.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,460
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
$33,930
Kept after tax
$29,443
Worth in national money
$28,460
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Florida is 27 of 51 states for food servers, nonrestaurant, with a middle wage of $33,930. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Florida this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 472. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $33,930 the take-home is $29,443. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,460 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $34,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Florida ranks 27 of 51 for food servers, nonrestaurant at $33,930. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Florida reports, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 472 of 493, 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $29,443 for food servers, nonrestaurant, from $33,930. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,460. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $34,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $39,000 |
| This salary | $33,930 |
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 | $29,443 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,443 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,838 |
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 | $33,930 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,223 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $33,930 as a midpoint for Florida, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,210 and the ninetieth is $39,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,443 take-home in Florida comes from $33,930. 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 472 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,460 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 472.
- The Florida median of $33,930 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,210 to $39,000. 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 $29,443, from $33,930, 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 472 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,460, worked from $33,930, 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 472 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,210 and the top tenth $39,000, so most people doing this work in Florida sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $28,460 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $29,443 survives, because Florida 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 ($29,210 to $39,000) 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 $28,460 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 $29,443 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.