Waiters and Waitresses in Nevada
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,359
after federal, FICA and Nevada tax
Tax takes
$3,051
11.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,086
Nevada costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Nevada — 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
$26,410
Kept after tax
$23,359
Worth in national money
$24,086
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Nevada pays waiters and waitresses a middle wage of $26,410, 39 of 51 states and about 25.04% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Nevada this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, waiters and waitresses ranks 482. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $26,410 you keep $23,359 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $24,086 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,870, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nevada's $26,410 median for waiters and waitresses places it 39 of 51 states, about 25.04% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Nevada reports, waiters and waitresses ranks 482 of 485, 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 in Nevada is $23,359 after the full tax stack, from $26,410. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $24,086 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,870 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $26,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,140 |
| This salary | $26,410 |
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 Nevada | $23,359 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $23,359 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$48 |
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 | $26,410 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$57 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Nevada earn less than $26,410. The published range is $24,960 up to $50,140, 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 Nevada's $23,359, worked from $26,410. 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 482 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nevada, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $24,086, the adjusted value of that $26,410 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 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for waiters and waitresses in Nevada the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $24,960 to $50,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Nevada take-home of $23,359, on $26,410 for work ranking 482 of 485 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 482 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nevada, so $24,086 — the adjusted value of that $26,410 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 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $36,870, 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 $24,960 at the bottom tenth to $50,140 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $24,086.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $23,359 of this wage reaches your account, because Nevada takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 Nevada is $36,870. 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 ($24,960) and the ninetieth ($50,140) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Nevada's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $24,086 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Nevada levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $23,359 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.