Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,126
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$5,144
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,593
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$37,270
Kept after tax
$32,126
Worth in national money
$29,593
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $37,270, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 19.46% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Washington, this one sits low: 493 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $37,270 the take-home is $32,126. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,593 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $42,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, at $37,270 — about 19.46% 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.
- Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop occupies position 493 of 493 in Washington'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 after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $32,126 for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, from $37,270. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,593. ⚠️ 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 $42,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $34,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,430 |
| This salary | $37,270 |
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 Washington | $32,126 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,126 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,468 |
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 | $37,270 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,194 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $37,270. The published range is $34,650 up to $59,430, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $32,126, worked from $37,270. 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 493 of 493.
- Two cautions on $29,593, the adjusted value of that $37,270 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 493 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,650 to $59,430. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Washington take-home of $32,126, on $37,270 for work ranking 493 of 493 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 493 of 493 in the state.
- This $29,593 adjusted figure, worked from $37,270, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 493 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 493 of 493 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 $42,140 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 $34,650 and the top tenth $59,430, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $29,593 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,126 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 Washington is $42,140. 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 ($34,650 to $59,430) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,593 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $32,126 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.