Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,285
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$7,085
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,997
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$39,370
Kept after tax
$32,285
Worth in national money
$29,997
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food servers, nonrestaurant is strong here. New York's middle earner gets $39,370, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 11.34% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in New York, this one sits low: 456 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $39,370 the take-home is $32,285. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,997 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $42,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant, New York sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $39,370, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 11.34% 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 456 of 493 in New York'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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $32,285 for food servers, nonrestaurant, from $39,370. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,997. ⚠️ 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 $42,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,630 |
| This salary | $39,370 |
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 York | $32,285 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,814 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,800 |
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 | $37,467 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,805 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
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 New York earn under $39,370 and half over. The published range runs $33,110 at the tenth percentile to $52,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,285 take-home in New York comes from $39,370. 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 456 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,997 uses one figure for the whole of New York. 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 456.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in New York, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,110 to $52,630; 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 $32,285, from $39,370, assumes a single New York 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 456 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,997, worked from $39,370, 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 York address, on work sitting at 456 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $42,560, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,110 and the top tenth $52,630, so most people doing this work in New York 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 $29,997 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New York adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,285 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 New York is $42,560. 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 ($33,110 to $52,630) 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 York rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,997 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 $32,285 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.