What Food Preparation Workers earn in Brown County, IN
The median pay for Food Preparation Workers in Brown County, IN is $30,490 per year, which works out to $14.66 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metropolitan area, the labor market that Brown County, IN 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 $32,660, which is 7.1% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 4,870 people working in this occupation across the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Brown County, IN has roughly 15,606 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Food Preparation Workers in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $24,270 a year ($11.67 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $42,490 or more ($20.43 an hour). That is a gap of $18,220 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $27,800 at the 25th percentile and $36,520 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 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: $14.66 an hour or $30,490 a year at the median for Brown County, IN. Before any deductions, that is $2,541 a month, $1,173 every two weeks and $586 each week. After taxes the same job pays $12.38 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Food Preparation Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Food Preparation Workers this way: "Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage"; "Portion and wrap food, or place it directly on plates for service to patrons"; "Place food trays over food warmers for immediate service, or store them in refrigerated storage cabinets"; "Weigh or measure ingredients".
Job outlook for Food Preparation Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 908,500 jobs in 2025 to 881,300 in 2035, a change of -3%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 135,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 14.9% 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 $35,320 for this occupation; the Brown County, IN median of $30,490 is 13.7% below it.
How pay in Brown County, IN compares
Compared with the Indiana average
Pay in Brown County, IN runs $2,764 below the Indiana average of $33,254, a gap of 8.3%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Indiana would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Indiana, the highest median we track for this job is $35,410 in Lake County, IN.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Food Preparation Workers is $34,184 across the contiguous United States. At $30,490, Brown County, IN pays $3,694 less, which is 10.8% 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 Brown County, IN
Among the 555 occupations with published wages in Brown County, IN, Food Preparation Workers ranks number 542 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $146,620 a year, which is $116,130 more than the median for Food Preparation 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 Food Preparation Workers earning the Brown County, IN median of $30,490, they add up to $4,747. The result is $25,743 of take-home pay a year ($2,145 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 $14,740. 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 $1,530, an effective 5.0% 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 $1,890 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $442. FICA totals $2,332, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Indiana
Indiana income tax on this salary is $885 a year, or 2.9% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 58% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $74 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 Brown County, IN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Brown County, IN show an average adjusted gross income of $77,612 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.4% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 5.0% 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 Brown County, IN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Brown County, IN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $25,743 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Brown County, IN, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,336 a month ($16,032 a year), and at $1,536 for two bedrooms. For Food Preparation Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 62.3% of take-home pay and 52.6% 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 11.3% of gross pay for Food Preparation Workers in Brown County, IN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Indiana residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,560 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $366, for $1,927 in total. Gasoline in Indiana averages $3.07 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,421.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $22,816 a year in Brown County, IN. Subtract that from $25,743 of take-home pay and $2,927 remains, which is $244 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 9.6% of gross pay, a thin cushion that one unexpected expense could erase.
Local housing and commute data for Brown County, IN
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Brown County, IN: 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 Brown County, IN, set beside the Indiana and national medians.
Property taxes in Brown County, IN
Homeowners in Brown County, IN pay a median of $1,177 a year in real estate taxes, 27% below the Indiana median of $1,614 and 62% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $269,100, the median tax bill is 0.44% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Food Preparation Workers median of $30,490, 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 Brown County, IN
Renters in Brown County, IN pay a median gross rent of $895 a month in the Census survey, 16% below the Indiana median of $1,062. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,336 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 $269,100, 23% above the Indiana median of $218,200. Median household income is $78,528, 9% above the Indiana median of $71,957, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.4% of that income.
Commuting in Brown County, IN
Workers in Brown County, IN who travel to a workplace spend an average of 36.0 minutes each way, 49% above the Indiana average of 24.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 6.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 13.6% of workers in Brown County, IN work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Food Preparation Workers afford to live in Brown County, IN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $30,490 that ceiling is $762 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,336 is $574 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $25.69 an hour; the median for Food Preparation Workers is $14.66, which is 43% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $12.38 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 24.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,536 a month means $768 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,816 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $9,743.
How fast you can save
At $244 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 41 months (3.4 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 82 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Food Preparation Workers pay in Brown County, IN
How much do Food Preparation Workers make per hour in Brown County, IN?
The median is $14.66 per hour, based on $30,490 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $11.67 at the 10th percentile to $20.43 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Food Preparation Workers take home after taxes in Brown County, IN?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $30,490 becomes $25,743 a year. That is $2,145 a month, $990 every two weeks or $495 a week.
How much tax do Food Preparation Workers pay in Brown County, IN?
Total taxes are $4,747 a year, an effective rate of 15.6%: $1,530 federal income tax, $2,332 FICA and $885 Indiana income tax.
Do Food Preparation Workers earn more in Brown County, IN than elsewhere in Indiana?
No. The local median of $30,490 is -8.3% versus the Indiana average of $33,254, a difference of $2,764 a year.
Can Food Preparation Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Brown County, IN?
A one-bedroom costs $1,336 a month against take-home pay of $2,145, which is 62.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $762 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Food Preparation Workers in Brown County, IN?
About $244 a month ($2,927 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $22,816 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Brown County, IN at the 30% guideline?
$25.69 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $16,032 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Food Preparation Workers is $14.66.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN 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 Indiana 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.