What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn in Shelby County, TN
The median pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Shelby County, TN is $27,490 per year, which works out to $13.22 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area, the labor market that Shelby County, TN 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 $27,980, which is 1.8% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 15,320 people working in this occupation across the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Shelby County, TN has roughly 919,173 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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $22,310 a year ($10.73 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $35,310 or more ($16.98 an hour). That is a gap of $13,000 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $23,770 at the 25th percentile and $29,230 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 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: $13.22 an hour or $27,490 a year at the median for Shelby County, TN. Before any deductions, that is $2,291 a month, $1,057 every two weeks and $529 each week. After taxes the same job pays $11.64 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Shelby County, TN compares
Compared with the Tennessee average
Pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Shelby County, TN is in line with the statewide figure: $27,490 locally against an employment-weighted Tennessee average of $27,643, a difference of only $153 (0.6%). Within Tennessee, the highest median we track for this job is $29,150 in Davidson County, TN.
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 $27,490, Shelby County, TN pays $3,941 less, which is 12.5% 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 Shelby County, TN
Among the 502 occupations with published wages in Shelby County, TN, Fast Food and Counter Workers ranks number 493 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $102,510 a year, which is $75,020 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 Shelby County, TN median of $27,490, they add up to $3,277. The result is $24,213 of take-home pay a year ($2,018 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $12 goes to taxes and $88 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 11.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $11,740. 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 10% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,174, 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 $1,704 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $399. FICA totals $2,103, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Tennessee
Tennessee does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Shelby County, TN is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,375 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $115 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Shelby County, TN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Shelby County, TN show an average adjusted gross income of $81,297 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.7% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.4%, 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 Shelby County, TN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Shelby County, TN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $24,213 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Shelby County, TN, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,191 a month ($14,292 a year), and at $1,301 for two bedrooms. For Fast Food and Counter Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 59.0% of take-home pay and 52.0% 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 Shelby County, TN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Tennessee residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,313 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $421, for $1,733 in total. Gasoline in Tennessee averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,426.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,887 a year in Shelby County, TN. Subtract that from $24,213 of take-home pay and $3,326 remains, which is $277 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 12.1% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford to live in Shelby County, TN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $27,490 that ceiling is $687 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,191 is $504 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.90 an hour; the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $13.22, which is 42% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $11.64 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 23.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,301 a month means $651 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,486 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $9,812.
How fast you can save
At $277 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 37 months (3.1 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 74 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Shelby County, TN
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers make per hour in Shelby County, TN?
The median is $13.22 per hour, based on $27,490 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $10.73 at the 10th percentile to $16.98 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers take home after taxes in Shelby County, TN?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $27,490 becomes $24,213 a year. That is $2,018 a month, $931 every two weeks or $466 a week.
How much tax do Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Shelby County, TN?
Total taxes are $3,277 a year, an effective rate of 11.9%: $1,174 federal income tax, $2,103 FICA and no Tennessee income tax.
Do Fast Food and Counter Workers earn more in Shelby County, TN than elsewhere in Tennessee?
It is about the same. The local median of $27,490 is within 0.6% of the Tennessee average of $27,643.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Shelby County, TN?
A one-bedroom costs $1,191 a month against take-home pay of $2,018, which is 59.0% 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 Shelby County, TN?
About $277 a month ($3,326 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,887 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Shelby County, TN at the 30% guideline?
$22.90 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,292 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $13.22.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR 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 Tennessee 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.