Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,828
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$5,382
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,803
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$34,210
Kept after tax
$28,828
Worth in national money
$27,803
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Connecticut pays this job a middle wage of $34,210, ranking 12 of 51 states and sitting about 9.65% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Connecticut, this one sits low: 482 of 482 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Connecticut is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $34,210 the take-home is $28,828; in national-average money that behaves like $27,803. The average comes to $36,000, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Connecticut's median for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop is $34,210, about 9.65% above the national figure and 12 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop occupies position 482 of 482 in Connecticut'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 Connecticut, on $34,210, is $28,828; deflated by the state's price level, $27,803. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $36,000 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 | $34,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,060 |
| This salary | $34,210 |
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 Connecticut | $28,828 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,728 |
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 | $33,165 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,299 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Connecticut earn less than $34,210. The published range is $34,010 up to $44,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $28,828 take-home in Connecticut comes from $34,210. 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 482 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Connecticut, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,803, the adjusted value of that $34,210 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 482 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in Connecticut the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,010 to $44,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $28,828, from $34,210, assumes a single Connecticut 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 482 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Connecticut, so $27,803 — the adjusted value of that $34,210 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 482 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $36,000, 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 — $34,010 at the tenth percentile, $44,060 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Connecticut run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $27,803 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Connecticut adds its own income tax on top — which is why $28,828 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 Connecticut is $36,000. 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 ($34,010 to $44,060) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,803 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 $28,828 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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.