Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,181
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$6,499
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,113
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$37,680
Kept after tax
$31,181
Worth in national money
$32,113
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food servers, nonrestaurant is strong here. Maine's middle earner gets $37,680, putting the state 8 of 51 — about 6.56% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 454 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $37,680 the take-home is $31,181, which is worth about $32,113 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $38,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant, Maine sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $37,680, ranking 8 of 51 and running about 6.56% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Food servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 454 of 484 in Maine'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.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for food servers, nonrestaurant on its $37,680 median: $31,181 retained after tax becomes $32,113 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $38,530 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 | $31,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,000 |
| This salary | $37,680 |
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 Maine | $31,181 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,456 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,286 |
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 | $36,093 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,555 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 servers, nonrestaurant in Maine earn under $37,680 and half over. The published range runs $31,570 at the tenth percentile to $45,000 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,181 take-home in Maine comes from $37,680. 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 454 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,113, the adjusted value of that $37,680 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 454 of 484 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,570 to $45,000; 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.
- Retained pay of $31,181, from $37,680, assumes a single Maine 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 454 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $32,113 — the adjusted value of that $37,680 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 454 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,570 and the top tenth $45,000, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $32,113 in national terms.
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 Maine's own levy, $31,181 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,570 to $45,000) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $32,113 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 $31,181 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.