Waiters and Waitresses in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,376
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$5,324
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,174
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$36,700
Kept after tax
$31,376
Worth in national money
$34,174
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Ohio sits in the middle of the pack for waiters and waitresses. The median is $36,700, ranking 19 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 Ohio, this one sits low: 441 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,700 you keep $31,376, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,174 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,190, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Ohio occupies the middle band for waiters and waitresses: a median of $36,700, ranking 19 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 441 of 494 in Ohio'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 federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for waiters and waitresses on $36,700 is $31,376. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,174 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $42,190 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,740 |
| This salary | $36,700 |
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 Ohio | $31,376 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,585 |
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 | $36,335 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,916 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Ohio earn less than $36,700. The published range is $23,820 up to $63,740, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,376 take-home in Ohio comes from $36,700. 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 441 of 494.
- Two cautions on $34,174, the adjusted value of that $36,700 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Ohio. 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 441 of 494 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for waiters and waitresses in Ohio the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,820 to $63,740. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,376, from $36,700, assumes a single Ohio 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 441 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 51 for it.
- This $34,174 adjusted figure, worked from $36,700, 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 441 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 441 of 494 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 $42,190 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $23,820, the highest tenth $63,740, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $34,174.
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 Ohio's own levy, $31,376 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 Ohio is $42,190. 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 ($23,820) and the ninetieth ($63,740) 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?
Ohio'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 $34,174 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $31,376 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.