Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,999
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$6,001
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,481
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — 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
$36,000
Kept after tax
$29,999
Worth in national money
$30,481
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food servers, nonrestaurant is strong here. Minnesota's middle earner gets $36,000, putting the state 17 of 51 — about 1.81% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 490 occupations Minnesota publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 471. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $36,000, tax leaves $29,999, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $30,481 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $37,010, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant, Minnesota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $36,000, ranking 17 of 51 and running about 1.81% 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.
- Within Minnesota, this work ranks 471 of 490 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.
- Because Minnesota sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for food servers, nonrestaurant — median $36,000 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $29,999 retained, $30,481 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $37,010 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,370 |
| This salary | $36,000 |
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 Minnesota | $29,999 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,106 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,529 |
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 | $34,622 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,849 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
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 Minnesota earn under $36,000 and half over. The published range runs $31,760 at the tenth percentile to $44,370 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Minnesota the take-home figure of $29,999, from $36,000, 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 471 of 490 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,481 uses one figure for the whole of Minnesota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 471.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,760 to $44,370; 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.
- Take-home for Minnesota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,999 from $36,000. 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 471 of 490 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,481, worked from $36,000, 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 Minnesota address, on work sitting at 471 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,760 and the top tenth $44,370, so most people doing this work in Minnesota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Minnesota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $30,481 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 Minnesota's own levy, $29,999 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 ($31,760 to $44,370) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota'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 $30,481 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 $29,999 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota 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.