What First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers earn in Lorain County, OH
The median pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Lorain County, OH is $37,700 per year, which works out to $18.12 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Cleveland, OH metropolitan area, the labor market that Lorain County, OH 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 $42,780, which is 13.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,460 people working in this occupation across the Cleveland, OH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Lorain County, OH has roughly 317,129 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in the Cleveland, OH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $31,200 a year ($15.00 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $60,730 or more ($29.20 an hour). That is a gap of $29,530 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,730 at the 25th percentile and $47,990 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 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: $18.12 an hour or $37,700 a year at the median for Lorain County, OH. Before any deductions, that is $3,142 a month, $1,450 every two weeks and $725 each week. After taxes the same job pays $15.46 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers this way: "Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in preparing and serving food."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Resolve customer complaints regarding food service"; "Train workers in food preparation, and in service, sanitation, and safety procedures"; "Inspect supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure efficient service and conformance to standards"; "Control inventories of food, equipment, smallware, and liquor, and report shortages to designated personnel".
Job outlook for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,236,400 jobs in 2025 to 1,303,500 in 2035, a change of +5.4%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 171,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.9% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Work experience in a related occupation: less than 5 years. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $44,080 for this occupation; the Lorain County, OH median of $37,700 is 14.5% below it.
How pay in Lorain County, OH compares
Compared with the Ohio average
A worker in this occupation in Lorain County, OH earns $605 more than the Ohio average of $37,095, a premium of 1.6%. Over a year that premium is worth $605 before tax and roughly $516 after tax. Within Ohio, the highest median we track for this job is $38,370 in Hamilton County, OH.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers is $42,179 across the contiguous United States. At $37,700, Lorain County, OH pays $4,479 less, which is 10.6% 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 Lorain County, OH
Among the 549 occupations with published wages in Lorain County, OH, First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers ranks number 482 by median pay, ahead of about 12% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $111,310 a year, which is $73,610 more than the median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving 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 First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers earning the Lorain County, OH median of $37,700, they add up to $5,534. The result is $32,166 of take-home pay a year ($2,681 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,950. 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 $2,396, an effective 6.4% 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 $2,337 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $547. FICA totals $2,884, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Ohio
Ohio income tax on this salary is $254 a year, or 0.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 11% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $21 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 Lorain County, OH
IRS Statistics of Income data for Lorain County, OH show an average adjusted gross income of $78,000 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 6.4% 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 Lorain County, OH
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Lorain County, OH: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $32,166 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Lorain County, OH, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,050 a month ($12,600 a year), and at $1,274 for two bedrooms. For First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 39.2% of take-home pay and 33.4% 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 9.1% of gross pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Lorain County, OH. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Ohio residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,689 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $525, for $2,214 in total. Gasoline in Ohio averages $3.25 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,504.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $19,754 a year in Lorain County, OH. Subtract that from $32,166 of take-home pay and $12,412 remains, which is $1,034 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 32.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Lorain County, OH
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Lorain County, OH: 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 Lorain County, OH, set beside the Ohio and national medians.
Property taxes in Lorain County, OH
Homeowners in Lorain County, OH pay a median of $3,055 a year in real estate taxes, 8% above the Ohio median of $2,822 and 2% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $223,200, the median tax bill is 1.37% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers median of $37,700, a tax bill of that size would equal 8.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Lorain County, OH
Renters in Lorain County, OH pay a median gross rent of $966 a month in the Census survey, 7% below the Ohio median of $1,034. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,050 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 $223,200, 4% above the Ohio median of $214,800. Median household income is $73,347, 3% above the Ohio median of $71,389, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 17.2% of that income.
Commuting in Lorain County, OH
Workers in Lorain County, OH who travel to a workplace spend an average of 25.4 minutes each way, 9% above the Ohio average of 23.4. 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. 11.7% of workers in Lorain County, OH work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers afford to live in Lorain County, OH?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $37,700 that ceiling is $942 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,050 is $108 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $20.19 an hour; the median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers is $18.12, which is 10% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.46 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,274 a month means $637 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $4,956 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $17,368.
How fast you can save
At $1,034 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 10 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 20 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers pay in Lorain County, OH
How much do First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers make per hour in Lorain County, OH?
The median is $18.12 per hour, based on $37,700 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $15.00 at the 10th percentile to $29.20 at the 90th percentile.
How much do First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers take home after taxes in Lorain County, OH?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $37,700 becomes $32,166 a year. That is $2,681 a month, $1,237 every two weeks or $619 a week.
How much tax do First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers pay in Lorain County, OH?
Total taxes are $5,534 a year, an effective rate of 14.7%: $2,396 federal income tax, $2,884 FICA and $254 Ohio income tax.
Do First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers earn more in Lorain County, OH than elsewhere in Ohio?
Yes. The local median of $37,700 is +1.6% versus the Ohio average of $37,095, a difference of $605 a year.
Can First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Lorain County, OH?
A one-bedroom costs $1,050 a month against take-home pay of $2,681, which is 39.2% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $942 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Lorain County, OH?
About $1,034 a month ($12,412 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $19,754 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Lorain County, OH at the 30% guideline?
$20.19 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $12,600 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers is $18.12.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Cleveland, OH 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 Ohio 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.