Cooks, Restaurant Salary in Salinas, CA

Cooks, Restaurant pay range in Salinas

New workers and the lowest-paid 10% earn about $37,150 a year or less, while the top 10% make $57,980 or more. The middle half of cooks, restaurant in Salinas earn between $38,240 and $47,970.

*Hourly figures assume 2,080 paid hours a year.

Cooks, Restaurant salary after taxes in Salinas

On the average salary of $45,310, a single filer in Salinas takes home about $37,638 a year, or $3,137 a month and $1,448 every two weeks. Taxes take 17% of gross pay.

Single filer, standard deduction: federal income tax (2026 brackets), Social Security, Medicare and state income tax (2025 rules). California State Disability Insurance (1.3% of wages, paid by employees) is not included.

Is Salinas a good place for cooks, restaurant? Pay vs. cost of living

Prices in the Salinas area are 9% above the U.S. average (BEA price parity 109.0), so the average $45,310 buys what about $41,553 would buy in a typical U.S. metro. This job pays 0.9 times the median wage of all jobs in Salinas ($47,380). A typical home costs $850,461, or 18.8 years of this average salary before tax.

See what $45,310 is worth in another city

Cooks, Restaurant salary in other California cities

Salinas ranks 6th of 25 California metro areas for this job; San Jose pays the most ($49,390).

All Cooks, Restaurant salaries in California

Highest-paying cities for cooks, restaurant

Kahului, HI pays this job the most of the metro areas we cover ($54,460).

Cooks, Restaurant salary by city

Related jobs in Salinas

• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$48,160 a year
• Cooks, All Other$42,800 a year
• Cooks, Fast Food$41,940 a year
• Cooks, Short Order$41,920 a year
• Food Preparation Workers$41,130 a year
• Chefs and Head Cooks$76,270 a year
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$55,210 a year
• Bartenders$46,550 a year

Average salary in Salinas and every job