Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,676
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$5,034
13.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,069
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — 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
$36,710
Kept after tax
$31,676
Worth in national money
$30,069
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Hampshire is one of the better-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $36,710, which ranks 12 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.82% above the national middle.
- Within New Hampshire this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 463. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $36,710, tax leaves $31,676 — and because New Hampshire is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $30,069 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $37,070, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Hampshire ranks 12 of 51 states publishing a median for food servers, nonrestaurant, at $36,710 — about 3.82% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation New Hampshire reports, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 463 of 488, 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 tax, $31,676 remains from the New Hampshire median of $36,710 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $30,069 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $37,070 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 | $28,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,090 |
| This salary | $36,710 |
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 New Hampshire | $31,676 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,676 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,528 |
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 | $36,710 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,057 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Hampshire earn less than $36,710. The published range is $28,710 up to $46,090, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Hampshire's $31,676, worked from $36,710. 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 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,069 uses one figure for the whole of New Hampshire. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 463.
- Reported values are medians; for food servers, nonrestaurant in New Hampshire the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,710 to $46,090. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Hampshire take-home of $31,676, on $36,710 for work ranking 463 of 488 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 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,069, worked from $36,710, 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 New Hampshire address, on work sitting at 463 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,710 at the bottom tenth to $46,090 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New Hampshire run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $30,069 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $31,676 of this wage reaches your account, because New Hampshire takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 ($28,710 to $46,090) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Hampshire rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $30,069 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?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $31,676 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.