Fast food work sets the floor: where it pays best usually says more about the state minimum wage than the employer. Below is what it pays in every state we have data for, what is left after federal and state tax in 2026, and what that is worth once local prices are taken into account.
Official category: Fast Food and Counter Workers, Standard Occupational Classification
code 35-3023. Every figure on this page is the state median for that category.
- $32,043best: California, after tax and prices
- $22,722worst: Alabama
- 41%gap between them, for the same job
California pays the most and keeps the top spot after tax and prices. That is the less common outcome: it happens in only 14 of the 34 jobs in this index.
Every state, ranked
| # | State | Median wage | Take-home | Prices | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $42,280 | $35,478 | 110.7 | $32,043 |
| 2 | Vermont | $36,030 | $30,357 | 98.0 | $30,990 |
| 3 | Washington | $37,710 | $32,480 | 107.0 | $30,351 |
| 4 | Maine | $34,710 | $29,274 | 97.0 | $30,164 |
| 5 | North Dakota | $30,080 | $26,349 | 89.0 | $29,619 |
| 6 | Colorado | $36,270 | $30,435 | 103.1 | $29,534 |
| 7 | South Dakota | $29,490 | $25,875 | 88.6 | $29,209 |
| 8 | Arizona | $34,230 | $29,231 | 100.7 | $29,034 |
| 9 | Missouri | $30,390 | $26,107 | 90.8 | $28,747 |
| 10 | District of Columbia | $37,430 | $31,175 | 109.9 | $28,366 |
| 11 | Alaska | $33,280 | $28,920 | 102.4 | $28,253 |
| 12 | Connecticut | $35,380 | $29,266 | 103.6 | $28,246 |
| 13 | Iowa | $28,390 | $24,562 | 87.8 | $27,987 |
| 14 | Illinois | $33,910 | $27,893 | 100.0 | $27,905 |
| 15 | Nevada | $31,950 | $27,852 | 100.0 | $27,858 |
| 16 | Massachusetts | $35,850 | $29,413 | 105.8 | $27,812 |
| 17 | Nebraska | $29,000 | $24,994 | 90.1 | $27,739 |
| 18 | Oregon | $35,050 | $28,112 | 103.4 | $27,198 |
| 19 | New York | $35,250 | $29,197 | 107.9 | $27,054 |
| 20 | New Mexico | $28,700 | $24,931 | 92.2 | $27,037 |
| 21 | Ohio | $28,430 | $25,022 | 92.8 | $26,971 |
| 22 | Minnesota | $31,370 | $26,526 | 98.6 | $26,897 |
| 23 | New Jersey | $34,150 | $29,109 | 108.8 | $26,753 |
| 24 | Maryland | $33,660 | $27,993 | 105.0 | $26,670 |
| 25 | Hawaii | $35,250 | $29,256 | 110.0 | $26,608 |
| 26 | Wyoming | $27,860 | $24,553 | 92.7 | $26,489 |
| 27 | New Hampshire | $31,590 | $27,563 | 104.2 | $26,461 |
| 28 | Delaware | $31,300 | $26,405 | 99.8 | $26,456 |
| 29 | Tennessee | $27,470 | $24,232 | 91.9 | $26,376 |
| 30 | Montana | $29,090 | $24,943 | 94.6 | $26,354 |
| 31 | Rhode Island | $31,490 | $26,918 | 102.3 | $26,318 |
| 32 | Indiana | $28,790 | $24,493 | 93.3 | $26,244 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | $28,600 | $24,672 | 94.1 | $26,220 |
| 34 | Idaho | $28,940 | $25,008 | 95.5 | $26,188 |
| 35 | Kansas | $27,580 | $23,552 | 90.1 | $26,149 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $28,570 | $24,505 | 94.3 | $25,979 |
| 37 | Arkansas | $26,250 | $22,454 | 86.9 | $25,828 |
| 38 | Kentucky | $27,130 | $23,120 | 90.2 | $25,644 |
| 39 | South Carolina | $27,520 | $24,024 | 93.7 | $25,626 |
| 40 | Michigan | $28,930 | $24,446 | 96.2 | $25,407 |
| 41 | Texas | $27,740 | $24,454 | 97.1 | $25,196 |
| 42 | Utah | $28,670 | $24,907 | 98.9 | $25,193 |
| 43 | Virginia | $30,110 | $25,456 | 101.1 | $25,178 |
| 44 | West Virginia | $26,070 | $22,472 | 89.5 | $25,109 |
| 45 | Pennsylvania | $28,570 | $24,259 | 97.6 | $24,863 |
| 46 | Florida | $29,080 | $25,546 | 103.4 | $24,703 |
| 47 | Georgia | $26,920 | $23,184 | 96.3 | $24,077 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $23,430 | $20,396 | 87.8 | $23,219 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $22,610 | $20,057 | 87.0 | $23,066 |
| 50 | Louisiana | $22,800 | $20,088 | 88.2 | $22,774 |
| 51 | Alabama | $23,700 | $20,182 | 88.8 | $22,722 |
Click a column heading to sort. Prices is the state price level, where 100 is the national average. Adjusted is the take-home pay divided by that price level: what the money is actually worth where you spend it. Every state links to its own paycheck calculator.
What the numbers say
The five best states to do this job, once tax and prices are counted, are California ($32,043), Vermont ($30,990), Washington ($30,351), Maine ($30,164), North Dakota ($29,619). The three worst are Mississippi ($23,066), Louisiana ($22,774), Alabama ($22,722).
The median state wage for this occupation is $29,090. Where you do the work changes what that is worth by $9,321 a year between the best and worst state — 41% of the entire adjusted figure in the weakest state.
Two of the top ten states charge no income tax on wages: Washington and South Dakota. That is the single biggest lever in the table, though it only wins where prices are also reasonable.
State income tax on this salary runs from nothing in nine states to $2,230 a year in Oregon. Local prices then swing the value of what is left: the cheapest states in this table sit around 87 on the price index and the most expensive around 111, where 100 is the national average.
Check it against your own numbers
These are state medians for a single filer taking the standard deduction, with no dependents and no pre-tax deductions. Your own offer, your filing status, your 401(k) contributions and your city will all move it. Put your real figures into the California paycheck calculator, or pick any other state from the table above — every row links to its own page.
The full method and its limits are on the methodology page, and the dataset behind every figure is available as a CSV under a Creative Commons licence.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 state estimates. Annual median wage by occupation and state.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by state, 2024. The price level of each state, where the national average is 100.
- Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare for 2026, and the income tax rules of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as listed on our sources page and applied by the paycheck calculator. The method is set out in full on the methodology page.