What Cooks, Restaurant earn in Meriwether County, GA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $37,230: the median annual pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Meriwether County, GA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $17.90 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $35,780, which is 3.9% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 29,040 people working in this occupation across the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Meriwether County, GA has roughly 20,929 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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $27,370 a year ($13.16 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $43,690 or more ($21.00 an hour). That is a gap of $16,320 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $30,680 at the 25th percentile and $38,420 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: $17.90 an hour or $37,230 a year at the median for Meriwether County, GA. Before any deductions, that is $3,103 a month, $1,432 every two weeks and $716 each week. After taxes the same job pays $14.78 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 Meriwether County, GA median of $37,230 is 0.4% below it.
How pay in Meriwether County, GA compares
Compared with the Georgia average
A worker in this occupation in Meriwether County, GA earns $1,765 more than the Georgia average of $35,465, a premium of 5.0%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,765 before tax and roughly $1,457 after tax. Within Georgia, Meriwether County, GA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cooks, Restaurant is $38,193 across the contiguous United States. At $37,230, Meriwether County, GA pays $963 less, which is 2.5% 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 Meriwether County, GA
Among the 586 occupations with published wages in Meriwether County, GA, Cooks, Restaurant ranks number 524 by median pay, ahead of about 11% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers at $618,090 a year, which is $580,860 more than the median for Cooks, Restaurant.
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 Cooks, Restaurant earning the Meriwether County, GA median of $37,230, they add up to $6,497. The result is $30,733 of take-home pay a year ($2,561 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 17.4%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,480. 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 $2,339, an effective 6.3% 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 $2,308 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $540. FICA totals $2,848, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Georgia
Georgia income tax on this salary is $1,309 a year, or 3.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 56% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $109 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 Meriwether County, GA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Meriwether County, GA show an average adjusted gross income of $62,431 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.2% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.0%, compared with the 6.3% 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 Meriwether County, GA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Meriwether County, GA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,733 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Meriwether County, GA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $766 a month ($9,192 a year), and at $1,002 for two bedrooms. For Cooks, Restaurant, a one-bedroom absorbs 29.9% of take-home pay and 24.7% 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 9.2% of gross pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Meriwether 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 $16,201 a year in Meriwether County, GA. Subtract that from $30,733 of take-home pay and $14,532 remains, which is $1,211 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 39.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Meriwether County, GA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Meriwether 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 Meriwether County, GA, set beside the Georgia and national medians.
Property taxes in Meriwether County, GA
Homeowners in Meriwether County, GA pay a median of $1,445 a year in real estate taxes, 38% below the Georgia median of $2,341 and 54% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $168,800, the median tax bill is 0.86% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Cooks, Restaurant median of $37,230, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Meriwether County, GA
Renters in Meriwether County, GA pay a median gross rent of $920 a month in the Census survey, 34% 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 $766 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 $168,800, 44% below the Georgia median of $303,300. Median household income is $57,340, 26% below the Georgia median of $77,353, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 16.0% of that income.
Commuting in Meriwether County, GA
Workers in Meriwether County, GA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 34.3 minutes each way, 21% above the Georgia average of 28.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 6.2% of workers in Meriwether County, GA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford to live in Meriwether 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 $37,230 that ceiling is $931 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $766 is $165 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $14.73 an hour; the median for Cooks, Restaurant is $17.90, which is 22% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.78 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 12.0 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 $3,180 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $17,712.
How fast you can save
At $1,211 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 9 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 18 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cooks, Restaurant pay in Meriwether County, GA
How much do Cooks, Restaurant make per hour in Meriwether County, GA?
The median is $17.90 per hour, based on $37,230 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.16 at the 10th percentile to $21.00 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cooks, Restaurant take home after taxes in Meriwether County, GA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $37,230 becomes $30,733 a year. That is $2,561 a month, $1,182 every two weeks or $591 a week.
How much tax do Cooks, Restaurant pay in Meriwether County, GA?
Total taxes are $6,497 a year, an effective rate of 17.4%: $2,339 federal income tax, $2,848 FICA and $1,309 Georgia income tax.
Do Cooks, Restaurant earn more in Meriwether County, GA than elsewhere in Georgia?
Yes. The local median of $37,230 is +5.0% versus the Georgia average of $35,465, a difference of $1,765 a year.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford a one-bedroom apartment in Meriwether County, GA?
A one-bedroom costs $766 a month against take-home pay of $2,561, which is 29.9% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $931 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cooks, Restaurant in Meriwether County, GA?
About $1,211 a month ($14,532 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,201 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Meriwether County, GA at the 30% guideline?
$14.73 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,192 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cooks, Restaurant is $17.90.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 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 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.