Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,290
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$4,200
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,513
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$28,490
Kept after tax
$24,290
Worth in national money
$27,513
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food servers, nonrestaurant is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $28,490. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 19.43% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 470. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,490 you keep $24,290, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,513 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $30,180, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $28,490, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.43%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Oklahoma, this work ranks 470 of 492 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.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for food servers, nonrestaurant on $28,490 is $24,290. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,513 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $30,180 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 | $23,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,850 |
| This salary | $28,490 |
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 Oklahoma | $24,290 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,072 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,712 |
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 | $27,541 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,071 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 Oklahoma earn under $28,490 and half over. The published range runs $23,030 at the tenth percentile to $37,850 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Oklahoma the take-home figure of $24,290, from $28,490, 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 470 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,513, the adjusted value of that $28,490 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 470 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $23,030 to $37,850; 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 Oklahoma is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,290 from $28,490. 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 470 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $27,513 — the adjusted value of that $28,490 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 470 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $30,180, 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 — $23,030 at the tenth percentile, $37,850 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $27,513.
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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $24,290.
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 Oklahoma is $30,180. 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 ($23,030 to $37,850) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $27,513 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 $24,290 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.