Fast Food and Counter Workers salary

SOC 35-3023 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$31,200

per year, nationally

Middle half

$27,700–$36,070

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

3.9M

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.1%

904,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$22,840$42,650

10th: $22,840
25th: $27,700
Median: $31,200
75th: $36,070
90th: $42,650

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where fast food and counter workers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$42,280	110.7	449,840	1.00×
2	Washington	$37,710	107.0	94,710	1.08×
3	District of Columbia	$37,430	109.9	5,500	0.32×
4	Colorado	$36,270	103.1	82,010	1.15×
5	Vermont	$36,030	98.0	6,830	0.91×
6	Massachusetts	$35,850	105.8	85,810	0.95×
7	Connecticut	$35,380	103.6	35,720	0.85×
8	New York	$35,250	107.9	168,620	0.70×
9	Hawaii	$35,250	110.0	24,130	1.55×
10	Oregon	$35,050	103.4	59,920	1.23×
11	Maine	$34,710	97.0	17,250	1.09×
12	Arizona	$34,230	100.7	77,210	0.96×
13	New Jersey	$34,150	108.8	93,730	0.88×
14	Illinois	$33,910	100.0	127,590	0.84×
15	Maryland	$33,660	105.0	49,380	0.72×
16	Alaska	$33,280	102.4	5,900	0.73×
17	Nevada	$31,950	100.0	45,850	1.19×
18	New Hampshire	$31,590	104.2	14,540	0.86×
19	Rhode Island	$31,490	102.3	13,310	1.07×
20	Minnesota	$31,370	98.6	58,970	0.81×
21	Delaware	$31,300	99.8	13,310	1.11×
22	Missouri	$30,390	90.8	29,360	0.40×
23	Virginia	$30,110	101.1	104,460	1.03×
24	North Dakota	$30,080	89.0	11,470	1.08×
25	South Dakota	$29,490	88.6	15,150	1.34×
26	Montana	$29,090	94.6	14,960	1.18×
27	Florida	$29,080	103.4	235,400	0.96×
28	Nebraska	$29,000	90.1	30,060	1.18×
29	Idaho	$28,940	95.5	25,810	1.21×
30	Michigan	$28,930	96.2	103,130	0.94×
31	Indiana	$28,790	93.3	97,290	1.23×
32	New Mexico	$28,700	92.2	28,250	1.31×
33	Utah	$28,670	98.9	52,340	1.22×
34	Wisconsin	$28,600	94.1	67,750	0.93×
35	Pennsylvania	$28,570	97.6	142,220	0.95×
36	North Carolina	$28,570	94.3	92,230	0.75×
37	Ohio	$28,430	92.8	163,560	1.19×
38	Iowa	$28,390	87.8	40,290	1.04×
39	Wyoming	$27,860	92.7	7,060	1.01×
40	Texas	$27,740	97.1	460,530	1.32×
41	Kansas	$27,580	90.1	47,140	1.32×
42	South Carolina	$27,520	93.7	65,070	1.14×
43	Tennessee	$27,470	91.9	90,690	1.12×
44	Kentucky	$27,130	90.2	41,860	0.84×
45	Georgia	$26,920	96.3	145,030	1.20×
46	Arkansas	$26,250	86.9	35,660	1.10×
47	West Virginia	$26,070	89.5	6,240	0.36×
48	Alabama	$23,700	88.8	41,460	0.79×
49	Oklahoma	$23,430	87.8	52,520	1.24×
50	Louisiana	$22,800	88.2	45,720	0.95×
51	Mississippi	$22,610	87.0	31,220	1.08×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where fast food and counter workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for fast food and counter workers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Napa, CA	$45,410	112.6	1,440	0.75×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$44,570	110.4	23,060	0.82×
3	Vallejo, CA	$44,110	108.5	4,430	1.24×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$43,870	115.6	49,970	0.85×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$43,610	107.8	4,720	0.93×
6	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$43,400	109.9	3,220	1.32×
7	Salinas, CA	$43,260	109.0	4,180	0.90×
8	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$42,940	108.8	5,930	1.19×
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$42,860	106.7	24,910	0.93×
10	Modesto, CA	$42,630	104.1	6,700	1.38×
11	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$42,370	110.5	9,520	1.19×
12	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$42,350	108.6	3,310	1.09×
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$42,280	106.4	51,310	1.21×
14	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$42,190	111.9	42,550	1.12×
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$42,110	113.6	160,270	1.03×
16	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$42,060	101.6	1,610	1.33×
17	Yuba City, CA	$42,040	104.2	1,630	1.29×
18	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$41,740	105.1	7,560	1.05×
19	Fresno, CA	$39,480	102.2	12,330	1.04×
20	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$39,470	100.9	9,180	1.09×
21	Redding, CA	$39,160	100.7	1,930	1.09×
22	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$39,150	111.1	49,190	0.95×
23	El Centro, CA	$38,840	95.2	1,630	1.01×
24	Visalia, CA	$38,600	99.8	4,850	1.14×
25	Chico, CA	$38,210	101.2	2,630	1.35×
26	Merced, CA	$38,200	98.3	2,500	1.27×
27	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$37,840	109.4	2,590	1.42×
28	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$37,190	100.9	2,770	0.93×
29	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$37,080	105.6	3,180	1.37×
30	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$37,070	105.8	42,810	1.07×
31	Bellingham, WA	$37,030	103.3	2,830	1.25×
32	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$36,890	102.4	1,580	1.21×
33	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$36,550	106.9	8,660	0.86×
34	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$36,450	103.9	1,690	1.33×
35	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$36,410	100.1	4,120	1.28×
36	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$36,290	108.3	60,130	0.90×
37	Boulder, CO	$36,190	105.2	4,880	1.02×
38	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$36,110	103.7	3,910	1.21×
39	Barnstable Town, MA	$36,100	98.4	2,950	1.26×
40	Longview-Kelso, WA	$36,020	97.5	1,440	1.41×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where fast food and counter workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.