What Cooks, Restaurant earn in Nassau County, FL
The median pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL is $36,770 per year, which works out to $17.68 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Jacksonville, FL metropolitan area, the labor market that Nassau County, FL belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $37,410, which is 1.7% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 7,770 people working in this occupation across the Jacksonville, FL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Nassau County, FL has roughly 97,859 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cooks, Restaurant in the Jacksonville, FL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $30,320 a year ($14.58 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $45,040 or more ($21.65 an hour). That is a gap of $14,720 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $34,820 at the 25th percentile and $38,430 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.5 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL is $17.68. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $36,770, and the same salary is $3,064 a month before taxes or about $1,414 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $15.23 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Cooks, Restaurant
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Cooks, Restaurant this way: "Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking"; "Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience"; "Observe and test foods to determine if they have been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing them with utensils"; "Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment".
Job outlook for Cooks, Restaurant
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,417,500 jobs in 2025 to 1,588,800 in 2035, a change of +12.1%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 218,600 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 15.4% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Work experience in a related occupation: less than 5 years. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $37,390 for this occupation; the Nassau County, FL median of $36,770 is 1.7% below it.
How pay in Nassau County, FL compares
Compared with the Florida average
Pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL is in line with the statewide figure: $36,770 locally against an employment-weighted Florida average of $37,099, a difference of only $329 (0.9%). Within Florida, the highest median we track for this job is $37,970 in Orange County, FL.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cooks, Restaurant is $38,193 across the contiguous United States. At $36,770, Nassau County, FL pays $1,423 less, which is 3.7% below 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 Nassau County, FL
Among the 511 occupations with published wages in Nassau County, FL, Cooks, Restaurant ranks number 455 by median pay, ahead of about 11% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $130,330 a year, which is $93,560 more than the median for Cooks, Restaurant.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $36,770 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $5,097 a year, which leaves $31,673, or $2,639 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $14 goes to taxes and $86 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 13.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,020. 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 $2,284, an effective 6.2% 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 $2,280 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $533. FICA totals $2,813, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Florida
There is no state income tax on wages in Florida, which means Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL keep the full $31,673 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,839 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $153 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Nassau County, FL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Nassau County, FL show an average adjusted gross income of $123,259 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 15.5% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 6.2% 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 Nassau County, FL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Nassau County, FL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $31,673 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Nassau County, FL is $1,421 a month, or $17,052 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,694 a month. For Cooks, Restaurant, a one-bedroom absorbs 53.8% of take-home pay and 46.4% 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 9.3% of gross pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Florida residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,494 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $1,005, for $2,498 in total. Gasoline in Florida averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,427.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $24,414 a year, 77% of take-home pay. That leaves $7,260 a year, or $605 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 19.7% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Nassau County, FL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Nassau County, FL: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Nassau County, FL, set beside the Florida and national medians.
Property taxes in Nassau County, FL
Homeowners in Nassau County, FL pay a median of $2,699 a year in real estate taxes, 1% below the Florida median of $2,730 and 13% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $382,800, the median tax bill is 0.71% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Cooks, Restaurant median of $36,770, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.3% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Nassau County, FL
Renters in Nassau County, FL pay a median gross rent of $1,526 a month in the Census survey, 9% below the Florida median of $1,669. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,421 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $382,800, 7% above the Florida median of $359,000. Median household income is $89,804, 20% above the Florida median of $74,568, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.0% of that income.
Commuting in Nassau County, FL
Workers in Nassau County, FL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 30.1 minutes each way, 7% above the Florida average of 28.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 13.7% of workers in Nassau County, FL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford to live in Nassau County, FL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $36,770 that ceiling is $919 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,421 is $502 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $27.33 an hour; the median for Cooks, Restaurant is $17.68, which is 35% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.23 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 21.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,694 a month means $847 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,888 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,148.
How fast you can save
At $605 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 17 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 34 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cooks, Restaurant pay in Nassau County, FL
What is the hourly wage for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL?
The median is $17.68 per hour, based on $36,770 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.58 at the 10th percentile to $21.65 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $36,770 becomes $31,673 a year. That is $2,639 a month, $1,218 every two weeks or $609 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL?
Total taxes are $5,097 a year, an effective rate of 13.9%: $2,284 federal income tax, $2,813 FICA and no Florida income tax.
Is pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL above the Florida average?
It is about the same. The local median of $36,770 is within 0.9% of the Florida average of $37,099.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Cooks, Restaurant salary in Nassau County, FL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,421 a month against take-home pay of $2,639, which is 53.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $919 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Cooks, Restaurant in Nassau County, FL?
About $605 a month ($7,260 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $24,414 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Nassau County, FL at the 30% guideline?
$27.33 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $17,052 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cooks, Restaurant is $17.68.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Jacksonville, FL 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 Florida 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.