California · BLS May 2025
Also called fast food worker. SOC 35-3023.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 449,840 fast food and counter workers working in California. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · California
$42,280A year, or $20.33 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $35,530 | $17.08 |
| 25th percentile | $36,790 | $17.69 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $42,280 | $20.33 |
| 75th percentile | $44,970 | $21.62 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $47,950 | $23.05 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $41,680 | $20.04 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $42,280 salary in California, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national average of 100, so $42,280 earned here buys what $38,186 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for fast food or counter workers in California is $42,280 a year, or $20.33 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
On the median wage of $42,280, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $35,478 a year, or roughly $2,957 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 16.1%.
California takes $674 of it in state income tax.
Yes. The median in California is 35.5% above the national median of $31,200.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
It is 0.43 times the median household income of $99,122. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in California run at 110.7 against a national average of 100, with rents at 154.3, so $42,280 here buys about what $38,186 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $47,950 a year or more, against $35,530 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, employer and the part of California someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
The survey counted 449,840 of these jobs in California for May 2025.
That makes the occupation exactly as concentrated here as nationally. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources