Waiters and Waitresses in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,591
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$5,489
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,173
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
$36,080
Kept after tax
$30,591
Worth in national money
$27,173
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California sits in the middle of the pack for waiters and waitresses. The median is $36,080, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 489 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $36,080, tax leaves $30,591 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $27,173 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $44,600, since top earners drag the number up.
- California occupies the middle band for waiters and waitresses: a median of $36,080, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Waiters and waitresses occupies position 489 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.
- After tax, $30,591 remains from the California median of $36,080 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $27,173 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $44,600 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,950 |
| This salary | $36,080 |
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 | $30,591 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,170 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,904 |
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 | $35,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,930 |
| 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 waiters and waitresses in California earn under $36,080 and half over. The published range runs $34,320 at the tenth percentile to $68,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,591 take-home in California comes from $36,080. 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 489 of 492.
- Two cautions on $27,173, the adjusted value of that $36,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. 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 489 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for waiters and waitresses in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,320 to $68,950; 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.
- Retained pay of $30,591, from $36,080, assumes a single California 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 489 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- This $27,173 adjusted figure, worked from $36,080, 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 489 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 489 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 $44,600, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $34,320 at the bottom tenth to $68,950 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $27,173 of national purchasing power.
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; California then takes its own share, leaving $30,591.
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 California is $44,600. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,320) and the ninetieth ($68,950) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $27,173 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 $30,591 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.