What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn in Santa Clara County, CA
According to the latest federal wage data for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area, the median pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Santa Clara County, CA is $44,570 a year, or $21.43 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $37,146 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Santa Clara County, CA.
The mean wage is $44,980, which is 0.9% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 23,060 people working in this occupation across the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Santa Clara County, CA has roughly 1,902,047 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $37,860 a year ($18.20 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $54,220 or more ($26.07 an hour). That is a gap of $16,360 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $39,420 at the 25th percentile and $48,700 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $21.43 an hour or $44,570 a year at the median for Santa Clara County, CA. Before any deductions, that is $3,714 a month, $1,714 every two weeks and $857 each week. After taxes the same job pays $17.86 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Santa Clara County, CA compares
Compared with the California average
A worker in this occupation in Santa Clara County, CA earns $2,248 more than the California average of $42,322, a premium of 5.3%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,248 before tax and roughly $1,873 after tax. Within California, Santa Clara County, CA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $31,431 across the contiguous United States. At $44,570, Santa Clara County, CA pays $13,139 more, which is 41.8% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Santa Clara County, CA
Among the 507 occupations with published wages in Santa Clara County, CA, Fast Food and Counter Workers ranks number 480 by median pay, ahead of about 5% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $291,660 a year, which is $247,090 more than the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Fast Food and Counter Workers earning the Santa Clara County, CA median of $44,570, they add up to $7,424. The result is $37,146 of take-home pay a year ($3,095 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $28,820. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,220, an effective 7.2% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,763 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $646. FICA totals $3,410, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in California
California income tax on this salary is $795 a year, or 1.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 25% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $66 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Santa Clara County, CA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Santa Clara County, CA show an average adjusted gross income of $216,171 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 21.2% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.6%, compared with the 7.2% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Santa Clara County, CA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Santa Clara County, CA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $37,146 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Santa Clara County, CA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,778 a month ($33,336 a year), and at $3,272 for two bedrooms. For Fast Food and Counter Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 89.7% of take-home pay and 74.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.7% of gross pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Santa Clara County, CA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using California residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,378 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $751, for $4,129 in total. Gasoline in California averages $4.42 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $2,047.
What is left over
The basics cost $42,947 a year in Santa Clara County, CA, but take-home pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $37,146. That is a shortfall of $5,801 a year, or $483 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 325 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $17.86, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford to live in Santa Clara County, CA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $44,570 that ceiling is $1,114 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,778 is $1,664 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $53.42 an hour; the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $21.43, which is 60% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $17.86 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 35.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $3,272 a month means $1,636 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $13,704 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $7,903, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $44,570 median, lower housing costs than the $2,778 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Santa Clara County, CA
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers make per hour in Santa Clara County, CA?
The median is $21.43 per hour, based on $44,570 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.20 at the 10th percentile to $26.07 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers take home after taxes in Santa Clara County, CA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $44,570 becomes $37,146 a year. That is $3,095 a month, $1,429 every two weeks or $714 a week.
How much tax do Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Santa Clara County, CA?
Total taxes are $7,424 a year, an effective rate of 16.7%: $3,220 federal income tax, $3,410 FICA and $795 California income tax.
Do Fast Food and Counter Workers earn more in Santa Clara County, CA than elsewhere in California?
Yes. The local median of $44,570 is +5.3% versus the California average of $42,322, a difference of $2,248 a year.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County, CA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,778 a month against take-home pay of $3,095, which is 89.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,114 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Santa Clara County, CA?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $42,947 a year, which is $5,801 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $483.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Santa Clara County, CA at the 30% guideline?
$53.42 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $33,336 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $21.43.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the California rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.