Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,845
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$9,225
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,845
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$47,070
Kept after tax
$37,845
Worth in national money
$34,845
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Hawaii is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $47,070, which ranks 1 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 50.87% above the national middle.
- Within Hawaii this is lower-paid work. Of 437 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 347. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,070 the take-home is $37,845. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,845 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $45,330, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Hawaii ranks 1 of 51 states publishing a median for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, at $47,070 — about 50.87% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Hawaii reports, hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop ranks 347 of 437, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $37,845 for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, from $47,070. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,845. ⚠️ 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 $45,330 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in 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: Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,560 |
| This salary | $47,070 |
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 Hawaii | $37,845 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,001 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,318 |
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 | $44,387 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,641 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,070 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,710 and the ninetieth is $62,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Hawaii's $37,845, worked from $47,070. 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 347 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,845, the adjusted value of that $47,070 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 347 of 437 in the state.
- The Hawaii median of $47,070 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,710 to $62,560. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Hawaii take-home of $37,845, on $47,070 for work ranking 347 of 437 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 347 of 437 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $34,845 — the adjusted value of that $47,070 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 347 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $45,330 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,710 and the top tenth $62,560, so most people doing this work in Hawaii sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $34,845 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Hawaii's own levy, $37,845 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Hawaii is $45,330. 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 ($29,710 to $62,560) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,845 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 $37,845 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.