Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salary — Houston, Texas

The average Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders in Houston, Texas earns $34,100 a year.

$34,100 / year, mean
↓ 19.0% below national average 83th percentile in Texas

Houston pays well above most of Texas for this role, landing in the top third statewide. That's noticeably below the national average for food cooking machine operators and tenders, worth factoring into any relocation math. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Texas

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
600
Estimate confidence
RSE 3.6%
Cost of living 99 #69 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 2109 #114 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $308,306 #99 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $80,458 #49 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Houston ranks #69 for cost of living and #99 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

Modesto $63,280 Seattle $54,550 Kiryas Joel $51,070 Stockton $49,480 Detroit $48,420 San Francisco $48,260 Scranton $48,230 Rochester $48,110 Grand Rapids $47,490 York $46,300 New York $45,310 Visalia $44,870 Chicago $44,010 Portland $43,830 Syracuse $43,750 Los Angeles $43,570 Buffalo $43,530 Reading $43,480 Fresno $43,090 Salem $42,400 Riverside $42,120 Louisville $41,970 Pittsburgh $41,630 Sacramento $41,250 Allentown $40,780 Lakeland $40,750 Vallejo $40,540 Philadelphia $40,250 Miami $40,200 Jacksonville $37,800 Tampa $37,610 Richmond $37,320 Baltimore $37,110 Orlando $36,560 Altoona $36,540 Dallas $35,950 Hagerstown $34,310 Houston $34,100 Austin $34,080 El Paso $34,020 San Antonio $32,720 McAllen $28,710
CityMean salaryvs. Houston
Allentown, Pennsylvania$40,780+19.6%
Altoona, Pennsylvania$36,540+7.2%
Austin, Texas$34,080-0.1%
Baltimore, Maryland$37,110+8.8%
Buffalo, New York$43,530+27.7%
Chicago, Illinois$44,010+29.1%
Dallas, Texas$35,950+5.4%
Detroit, Michigan$48,420+42.0%
El Paso, Texas$34,020-0.2%
Fresno, California$43,090+26.4%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$47,490+39.3%
Hagerstown, Maryland$34,310+0.6%
Jacksonville, Florida$37,800+10.9%
Kiryas Joel, New York$51,070+49.8%
Lakeland, Florida$40,750+19.5%
Los Angeles, California$43,570+27.8%
Louisville, Kentucky$41,970+23.1%
McAllen, Texas$28,710-15.8%
Miami, Florida$40,200+17.9%
Modesto, California$63,280+85.6%
New York, New York$45,310+32.9%
Orlando, Florida$36,560+7.2%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$40,250+18.0%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$41,630+22.1%
Portland, Oregon$43,830+28.5%
Reading, Pennsylvania$43,480+27.5%
Richmond, Virginia$37,320+9.4%
Riverside, California$42,120+23.5%
Rochester, New York$48,110+41.1%
Sacramento, California$41,250+21.0%
Salem, Oregon$42,400+24.3%
San Antonio, Texas$32,720-4.0%
San Francisco, California$48,260+41.5%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$48,230+41.4%
Seattle, Washington$54,550+60.0%
Stockton, California$49,480+45.1%
Syracuse, New York$43,750+28.3%
Tampa, Florida$37,610+10.3%
Vallejo, California$40,540+18.9%
Visalia, California$44,870+31.6%
York, Pennsylvania$46,300+35.8%
Gross salary
34,100/yr
Estimated take-home
29,579/yr
Est. total withheld
13.3%

Single filer, federal income tax + FICA only, 2025 rates — Texas has no state income tax on wages. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.

View cost of living in this state All Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salaries in Texas → All Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 51-3093 SOC code
Official area Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 26420 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: tx_constitucion_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
PasadenaThe Woodlands
No additional caveats are attached to this row.
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Texas

Population (metro area)
7,274,714