What Cooks, Restaurant earn in Montgomery County, MD
According to the latest federal wage data for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the median pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Montgomery County, MD is $42,920 a year, or $20.63 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $34,909 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Montgomery County, MD.
The mean wage is $42,590, which is 0.8% below the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 29,670 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Montgomery County, MD has roughly 1,065,949 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $35,310 a year ($16.98 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $49,650 or more ($23.87 an hour). That is a gap of $14,340 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $36,790 at the 25th percentile and $46,070 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: $20.63 an hour or $42,920 a year at the median for Montgomery County, MD. Before any deductions, that is $3,577 a month, $1,651 every two weeks and $825 each week. After taxes the same job pays $16.78 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Montgomery County, MD compares
Compared with the Maryland average
A worker in this occupation in Montgomery County, MD earns $2,718 more than the Maryland average of $40,202, a premium of 6.8%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,718 before tax and roughly $2,211 after tax. Within Maryland, Montgomery County, MD 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 $42,920, Montgomery County, MD pays $4,727 more, which is 12.4% 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 Montgomery County, MD
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Montgomery County, MD, Cooks, Restaurant ranks number 549 by median pay, ahead of about 11% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Lawyers at $195,190 a year, which is $152,270 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 Montgomery County, MD median of $42,920, they add up to $8,011. The result is $34,909 of take-home pay a year ($2,909 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $27,170. 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 $3,022, an effective 7.0% 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 $2,661 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $622. FICA totals $3,283, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $1,706 a year, or 4.0% 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 $142 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 Montgomery County, MD
IRS Statistics of Income data for Montgomery County, MD show an average adjusted gross income of $141,640 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 17.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.6%, compared with the 7.0% 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 Montgomery County, MD
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Montgomery County, MD: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $34,909 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Montgomery County, MD, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,204 a month ($26,448 a year), and at $2,438 for two bedrooms. For Cooks, Restaurant, a one-bedroom absorbs 75.8% of take-home pay and 61.6% 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 8.0% of gross pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Montgomery County, MD. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Maryland residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,887 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $634, for $2,521 in total. Gasoline in Maryland averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,539.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $33,944 a year in Montgomery County, MD. Subtract that from $34,909 of take-home pay and $965 remains, which is $80 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 2.2% of gross pay, a thin cushion that one unexpected expense could erase.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford to live in Montgomery County, MD?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $42,920 that ceiling is $1,073 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $1,131 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Cooks, Restaurant is $20.63, which is 51% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $16.78 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 30.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $12,785.
How fast you can save
At $80 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 125 months (10.4 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 250 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cooks, Restaurant pay in Montgomery County, MD
How much do Cooks, Restaurant make per hour in Montgomery County, MD?
The median is $20.63 per hour, based on $42,920 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.98 at the 10th percentile to $23.87 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cooks, Restaurant take home after taxes in Montgomery County, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $42,920 becomes $34,909 a year. That is $2,909 a month, $1,343 every two weeks or $671 a week.
How much tax do Cooks, Restaurant pay in Montgomery County, MD?
Total taxes are $8,011 a year, an effective rate of 18.7%: $3,022 federal income tax, $3,283 FICA and $1,706 Maryland income tax.
Do Cooks, Restaurant earn more in Montgomery County, MD than elsewhere in Maryland?
Yes. The local median of $42,920 is +6.8% versus the Maryland average of $40,202, a difference of $2,718 a year.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford a one-bedroom apartment in Montgomery County, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $2,909, which is 75.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,073 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cooks, Restaurant in Montgomery County, MD?
About $80 a month ($965 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $33,944 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Montgomery County, MD at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cooks, Restaurant is $20.63.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 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 Maryland 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.