Idaho · BLS May 2025
Also called food prep. SOC 35-2021.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 4,670 food preparation workers working in Idaho. 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 · Idaho
$31,510A year, or $15.15 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $22,150 | $10.65 |
| 25th percentile | $27,530 | $13.24 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $31,510 | $15.15 |
| 75th percentile | $36,850 | $17.71 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $40,260 | $19.36 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $32,380 | $15.57 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $31,510 salary in Idaho, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in Idaho sit at 95.5 against a national average of 100, so $31,510 earned here buys what $32,997 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for food preparation workers in Idaho is $31,510 a year, or $15.15 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 $31,510, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $26,918 a year, or roughly $2,243 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 14.6%.
Idaho takes $580 of it in state income tax.
No. The median in Idaho is 10.8% below the national median of $35,320.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Idaho sit at 95.5 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
It is 0.41 times the median household income of $77,800. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Idaho run at 95.5 against a national average of 100, with rents at 90, so $31,510 here buys about what $32,997 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $40,260 a year or more, against $22,150 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, employer and the part of Idaho someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
The survey counted 4,670 of these jobs in Idaho for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 5% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources