Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,019
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$5,621
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,553
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$36,640
Kept after tax
$31,019
Worth in national money
$27,553
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $36,640, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 17.44% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 485 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $36,640 the take-home is $31,019; in national-average money that behaves like $27,553. The average comes to $39,900, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $36,640, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 17.44% 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.
- Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop occupies position 485 of 492 in California'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.
- Take-home for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in California, on $36,640, is $31,019; deflated by the state's price level, $27,553. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $39,900 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,060 |
| This salary | $36,640 |
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 California | $31,019 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,620 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,987 |
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 | $35,892 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,031 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
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 hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in California earn under $36,640 and half over. The published range runs $34,360 at the tenth percentile to $46,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $31,019, from $36,640, 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 485 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,553 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 485.
- Figures are distribution medians for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,360 to $46,060; 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 California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,019 from $36,640. 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 485 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,553, worked from $36,640, 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 California address, on work sitting at 485 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 $39,900, 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 — $34,360 at the tenth percentile, $46,060 at the ninetieth.
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 $27,553 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 California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,019 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 California is $39,900. 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 ($34,360 to $46,060) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,553 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 $31,019 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.