What Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers earn in Madison County, IL
According to the latest federal wage data for the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, the median pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Madison County, IL is $31,930 a year, or $15.35 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $26,345 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Madison County, IL.
The mean wage is $34,650, which is 8.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 6,460 people working in this occupation across the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Madison County, IL has roughly 264,238 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $28,600 a year ($13.75 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $39,930 or more ($19.20 an hour). That is a gap of $11,330 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $28,880 at the 25th percentile and $38,690 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: $15.35 an hour or $31,930 a year at the median for Madison County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $2,661 a month, $1,228 every two weeks and $614 each week. After taxes the same job pays $12.67 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers this way: "Facilitate food service. Clean tables; remove dirty dishes; replace soiled table linens; set tables; replenish supply of clean linens, silverware, glassware, and dishes; supply service bar with food; and serve items such as water, condiments, and coffee to patrons."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Wipe tables or seats with dampened cloths or replace dirty tablecloths"; "Set tables with clean linens, condiments, or other supplies"; "Scrape and stack dirty dishes and carry dishes and other tableware to kitchens for cleaning"; "Clean up spilled food or drink or broken dishes and remove empty bottles and trash".
Job outlook for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 546,600 jobs in 2025 to 575,500 in 2035, a change of +5.3%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 95,300 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 17.4% 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 $33,980 for this occupation; the Madison County, IL median of $31,930 is 6.0% below it.
How pay in Madison County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
A worker in this occupation in Madison County, IL earns $584 more than the Illinois average of $31,346, a premium of 1.9%. Over a year that premium is worth $584 before tax and roughly $482 after tax. Within Illinois, Madison County, IL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers is $31,469 across the contiguous United States. At $31,930, Madison County, IL pays $461 more, which is 1.5% 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 Madison County, IL
Among the 578 occupations with published wages in Madison County, IL, Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers ranks number 564 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $167,130 a year, which is $135,200 more than the median for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers.
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 Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers earning the Madison County, IL median of $31,930, they add up to $5,585. The result is $26,345 of take-home pay a year ($2,195 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 17.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $16,180. 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 $1,703, an effective 5.3% 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 $1,980 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $463. FICA totals $2,443, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $1,439 a year, or 4.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 85% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $120 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 Madison County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Madison County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $82,062 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.1% 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 5.3% 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 Madison County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Madison County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $26,345 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Madison County, IL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,104 a month ($13,248 a year), and at $1,349 for two bedrooms. For Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers, a one-bedroom absorbs 50.3% of take-home pay and 41.5% 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 10.8% of gross pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Madison County, IL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Illinois residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,677 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $434, for $2,110 in total. Gasoline in Illinois averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,471.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,265 a year in Madison County, IL. Subtract that from $26,345 of take-home pay and $6,080 remains, which is $507 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 19.0% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Madison County, IL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Madison County, IL: 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 Madison County, IL, set beside the Illinois and national medians.
Property taxes in Madison County, IL
Homeowners in Madison County, IL pay a median of $3,319 a year in real estate taxes, 37% below the Illinois median of $5,298 and 6% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $173,000, the median tax bill is 1.92% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers median of $31,930, a tax bill of that size would equal 10.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Madison County, IL
Renters in Madison County, IL pay a median gross rent of $1,024 a month in the Census survey, 20% below the Illinois median of $1,274. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,104 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 $173,000, 34% below the Illinois median of $263,300. Median household income is $75,793, 9% below the Illinois median of $83,390, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 17.5% of that income.
Commuting in Madison County, IL
Workers in Madison County, IL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 24.9 minutes each way, 10% below the Illinois average of 27.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.7% of workers in Madison County, IL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers afford to live in Madison County, IL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $31,930 that ceiling is $798 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,104 is $306 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.23 an hour; the median for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers is $15.35, which is 28% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $12.67 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 20.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,349 a month means $675 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,154 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $11,234.
How fast you can save
At $507 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 20 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 40 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers pay in Madison County, IL
How much do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers make per hour in Madison County, IL?
The median is $15.35 per hour, based on $31,930 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.75 at the 10th percentile to $19.20 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers take home after taxes in Madison County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $31,930 becomes $26,345 a year. That is $2,195 a month, $1,013 every two weeks or $507 a week.
How much tax do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers pay in Madison County, IL?
Total taxes are $5,585 a year, an effective rate of 17.5%: $1,703 federal income tax, $2,443 FICA and $1,439 Illinois income tax.
Do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers earn more in Madison County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
Yes. The local median of $31,930 is +1.9% versus the Illinois average of $31,346, a difference of $584 a year.
Can Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Madison County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,104 a month against take-home pay of $2,195, which is 50.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $798 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Madison County, IL?
About $507 a month ($6,080 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,265 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Madison County, IL at the 30% guideline?
$21.23 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,248 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers is $15.35.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the St. Louis, MO-IL 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 Illinois 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.