What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn in Bacon County, GA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $23,160: the median annual pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Bacon County, GA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $11.13 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole South Georgia nonmetropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $24,940, which is 7.7% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,040 people working in this occupation across the South Georgia nonmetropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Bacon County, GA has roughly 11,109 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 South Georgia nonmetropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $18,720 a year ($9.00 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $30,810 or more ($14.81 an hour). That is a gap of $12,090 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $21,430 at the 25th percentile and $27,930 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 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: $11.13 an hour or $23,160 a year at the median for Bacon County, GA. Before any deductions, that is $1,930 a month, $891 every two weeks and $445 each week. After taxes the same job pays $9.65 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Fast Food and Counter Workers this way: "Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints"; "Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary"; "Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment"; "Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary".
Job outlook for Fast Food and Counter Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 3,855,900 jobs in 2025 to 4,079,100 in 2035, a change of +5.8%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 827,400 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 21.5% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $31,200 for this occupation; the Bacon County, GA median of $23,160 is 25.8% below it.
How pay in Bacon County, GA compares
Compared with the Georgia average
Pay in Bacon County, GA runs $3,589 below the Georgia average of $26,749, a gap of 13.4%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Georgia would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Georgia, the highest median we track for this job is $27,780 in Fulton County, GA.
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 $23,160, Bacon County, GA pays $8,271 less, which is 26.3% 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 Bacon County, GA
Among the 367 occupations with published wages in Bacon County, GA, Fast Food and Counter Workers ranks number 362 by median pay, ahead of about 1% of them.
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 Bacon County, GA median of $23,160, they add up to $3,092. The result is $20,068 of take-home pay a year ($1,672 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $13 goes to taxes and $87 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 13.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $7,410. 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 10% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $741, an effective 3.2% of gross pay, well below the 10% 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 $1,436 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $336. FICA totals $1,772, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Georgia
Georgia income tax on this salary is $579 a year, or 2.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 78% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $48 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 Bacon County, GA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Bacon County, GA show an average adjusted gross income of $52,381 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 9.2% across all filers. Filers in the $10,000 to under $25,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 3.6%, compared with the 3.2% 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 Bacon County, GA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Bacon County, GA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $20,068 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Bacon County, GA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $803 a month ($9,636 a year), and at $1,002 for two bedrooms. For Fast Food and Counter Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 48.0% of take-home pay and 41.6% 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 14.8% of gross pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Bacon County, GA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Georgia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,488 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $720, for $2,207 in total. Gasoline in Georgia averages $2.95 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,366.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $16,645 a year in Bacon County, GA. Subtract that from $20,068 of take-home pay and $3,423 remains, which is $285 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 14.8% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Bacon County, GA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Bacon County, GA: 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 Bacon County, GA, set beside the Georgia and national medians.
Property taxes in Bacon County, GA
Homeowners in Bacon County, GA pay a median of $1,144 a year in real estate taxes, 51% below the Georgia median of $2,341 and 63% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $101,400, the median tax bill is 1.13% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $23,160, a tax bill of that size would equal 4.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Bacon County, GA
Renters in Bacon County, GA pay a median gross rent of $743 a month in the Census survey, 47% below the Georgia median of $1,393. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $803 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 $101,400, 67% below the Georgia median of $303,300. Median household income is $44,694, 42% below the Georgia median of $77,353, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.6% of that income.
Commuting in Bacon County, GA
Workers in Bacon County, GA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.4 minutes each way, 7% below the Georgia average of 28.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.4 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 6.8% of workers in Bacon County, GA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford to live in Bacon County, GA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $23,160 that ceiling is $579 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $803 is $224 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $15.44 an hour; the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $11.13, which is 28% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $9.65 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.2 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,002 a month means $501 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,624 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $7,047.
How fast you can save
At $285 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 36 months (3.0 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 72 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Bacon County, GA
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers make per hour in Bacon County, GA?
The median is $11.13 per hour, based on $23,160 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $9.00 at the 10th percentile to $14.81 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers take home after taxes in Bacon County, GA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $23,160 becomes $20,068 a year. That is $1,672 a month, $772 every two weeks or $386 a week.
How much tax do Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Bacon County, GA?
Total taxes are $3,092 a year, an effective rate of 13.3%: $741 federal income tax, $1,772 FICA and $579 Georgia income tax.
Do Fast Food and Counter Workers earn more in Bacon County, GA than elsewhere in Georgia?
No. The local median of $23,160 is -13.4% versus the Georgia average of $26,749, a difference of $3,589 a year.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Bacon County, GA?
A one-bedroom costs $803 a month against take-home pay of $1,672, which is 48.0% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $579 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Bacon County, GA?
About $285 a month ($3,423 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,645 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Bacon County, GA at the 30% guideline?
$15.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,636 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $11.13.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the South Georgia nonmetropolitan 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 Georgia 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.