Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,518
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$3,922
12.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,883
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$30,440
Kept after tax
$26,518
Worth in national money
$28,883
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Ohio is among the lower-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $30,440, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 13.91% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Ohio, this one sits low: 477 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,440 you keep $26,518 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,883 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $32,470, since top earners drag the number up.
- Ohio ranks 41 of 51 for food servers, nonrestaurant, with a median of $30,440 — about 13.91% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Food servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 477 of 494 in Ohio'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 in Ohio is $26,518 after the full tax stack, from $30,440. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,883 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $32,470 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,310 |
| This salary | $30,440 |
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 Ohio | $26,518 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,639 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,470 |
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 | $30,290 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,778 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Ohio earn under $30,440 and half over. The published range runs $26,450 at the tenth percentile to $38,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Ohio's $26,518, worked from $30,440. 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 477 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Ohio, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,883, the adjusted value of that $30,440 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 477 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,450 to $38,310; 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.
- The Ohio take-home of $26,518, on $30,440 for work ranking 477 of 494 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 477 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Ohio, so $28,883 — the adjusted value of that $30,440 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 477 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $32,470, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,450 at the tenth percentile, $38,310 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Ohio sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $28,883 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $26,518.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Ohio is $32,470. 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 ($26,450 to $38,310) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $28,883 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 $26,518 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.