What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn in Tama County, IA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area, the median pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Tama County, IA is $27,460 a year, or $13.20 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $23,185 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Tama County, IA.
The mean wage is $27,660, which is 0.7% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 4,900 people working in this occupation across the Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Tama County, IA has roughly 16,868 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 Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $21,080 a year ($10.13 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $35,490 or more ($17.06 an hour). That is a gap of $14,410 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $23,970 at the 25th percentile and $29,670 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.7 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: $13.20 an hour or $27,460 a year at the median for Tama County, IA. Before any deductions, that is $2,288 a month, $1,056 every two weeks and $528 each week. After taxes the same job pays $11.15 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 Tama County, IA median of $27,460 is 12.0% below it.
How pay in Tama County, IA compares
Compared with the Iowa average
Pay in Tama County, IA runs $1,445 below the Iowa average of $28,905, a gap of 5.0%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Iowa would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Iowa, the highest median we track for this job is $31,200 in Scott County, IA.
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 $27,460, Tama County, IA pays $3,971 less, which is 12.6% 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 Tama County, IA
Among the 383 occupations with published wages in Tama County, IA, Fast Food and Counter Workers ranks number 374 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers at $56,220 a year, which is $28,760 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 Tama County, IA median of $27,460, they add up to $4,275. The result is $23,185 of take-home pay a year ($1,932 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $11,710. 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 $1,171, an effective 4.3% 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 $1,703 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $398. FICA totals $2,101, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Iowa
Iowa income tax on this salary is $1,003 a year, or 3.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 86% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $84 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 Tama County, IA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Tama County, IA show an average adjusted gross income of $69,364 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.7% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.8%, compared with the 4.3% 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 Tama County, IA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Tama County, IA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $23,185 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Tama County, IA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $722 a month ($8,664 a year), and at $945 for two bedrooms. For Fast Food and Counter Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 37.4% of take-home pay and 31.6% 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 12.5% of gross pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Tama County, IA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Iowa residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,416 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $395, for $1,811 in total. Gasoline in Iowa averages $3.12 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,445.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $15,356 a year in Tama County, IA. Subtract that from $23,185 of take-home pay and $7,829 remains, which is $652 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 28.5% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Tama County, IA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Tama County, IA: 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 Tama County, IA, set beside the Iowa and national medians.
Property taxes in Tama County, IA
Homeowners in Tama County, IA pay a median of $2,043 a year in real estate taxes, 29% below the Iowa median of $2,897 and 34% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $148,600, the median tax bill is 1.37% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $27,460, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Tama County, IA
Renters in Tama County, IA pay a median gross rent of $872 a month in the Census survey, 10% below the Iowa median of $972. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $722 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 $148,600, 29% below the Iowa median of $208,000. Median household income is $70,781, 6% below the Iowa median of $75,059, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 12.2% of that income.
Commuting in Tama County, IA
Workers in Tama County, IA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.7 minutes each way, 15% above the Iowa average of 19.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 8.7% of workers in Tama County, IA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford to live in Tama County, IA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $27,460 that ceiling is $687 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $722 is $36 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $13.88 an hour; the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $13.20, which is 5% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $11.15 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 14.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $945 a month means $473 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $2,994 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $10,823.
How fast you can save
At $652 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 16 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 32 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Tama County, IA
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers make per hour in Tama County, IA?
The median is $13.20 per hour, based on $27,460 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $10.13 at the 10th percentile to $17.06 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers take home after taxes in Tama County, IA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $27,460 becomes $23,185 a year. That is $1,932 a month, $892 every two weeks or $446 a week.
How much tax do Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Tama County, IA?
Total taxes are $4,275 a year, an effective rate of 15.6%: $1,171 federal income tax, $2,101 FICA and $1,003 Iowa income tax.
Do Fast Food and Counter Workers earn more in Tama County, IA than elsewhere in Iowa?
No. The local median of $27,460 is -5.0% versus the Iowa average of $28,905, a difference of $1,445 a year.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Tama County, IA?
A one-bedroom costs $722 a month against take-home pay of $1,932, which is 37.4% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $687 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Tama County, IA?
About $652 a month ($7,829 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $15,356 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Tama County, IA at the 30% guideline?
$13.88 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $8,664 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $13.20.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Southeast Iowa 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 Iowa 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.