SALARY · COOKS, RESTAURANT · CALIFORNIA

Cooks, Restaurant salary in California

If California is on your shortlist, start here. The median annual pay for cooks, restaurant was $44,880. That one figure will not decide a move on its own, but it sets the range for everything else, from housing to how much you can save.

MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY

$44,880

$22 per hour at the median · That is $7,490 (20.0 percent) above the national median of $37,390 for this occupation.

$45,020Mean annual salary
$22Mean hourly wage
$152,250People employed in this job in California

Salary range

25th: $38,590Median: $44,88075th: $47,330
MeasureAnnual
25th percentile$38,590
Median (50th percentile)$44,880
75th percentile$47,330
Mean$45,020

The middle half of workers earned from $38,590 to $47,330 a year. The gap between the mean and the median tells its own story. When the mean sits above the median, a smaller group at the top is pulling the average up. When the two are close, pay is more even across the field.

What stays in your pocket on the median salary

ESTIMATED TAKE-HOME PAY

$37,498 a year
$3,125 a month
Federal tax $3,206 · FICA $3,433 · State tax $744
Read this before you use the take-home figure. It is a single-filer estimate using the 2026 standard deduction. It leaves out credits, other deductions, local taxes, and retirement or health deductions. Your actual paycheck can differ, and for states without a verified 2026 table in this build, state tax is still to be added once its table is verified.

Same job, other states

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