Cooks, Restaurant Salary in State College, PA

Cooks, Restaurant pay range in State College

New workers and the lowest-paid 10% earn about $23,860 a year or less, while the top 10% make $44,510 or more. The middle half of cooks, restaurant in State College earn between $30,330 and $38,400.

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

Cooks, Restaurant salary after taxes in State College

On the average salary of $35,500, a single filer in State College takes home about $29,614 a year, or $2,468 a month and $1,139 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). Local earned income taxes (for example Philadelphia's wage tax) are not included.

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

Prices in the State College area are 3% below the U.S. average (BEA price parity 96.8), so the average $35,500 buys what about $36,688 would buy in a typical U.S. metro. This job pays 0.7 times the median wage of all jobs in State College ($49,220). A typical home costs $353,680, or 10.0 years of this average salary before tax.

See what $35,500 is worth in another city

Cooks, Restaurant salary in other Pennsylvania cities

State College ranks 7th of 16 Pennsylvania metro areas for this job; Philadelphia pays the most ($38,970).

All Cooks, Restaurant salaries in Pennsylvania

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 State College

• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$37,130 a year
• Food Preparation Workers$31,500 a year
• Cooks, Fast Food$30,260 a year
• Chefs and Head Cooks$60,150 a year
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$44,870 a year
• Waiters and Waitresses$37,170 a year
• Bartenders$34,830 a year
• Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$31,360 a year

Average salary in State College and every job