What Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers earn in Brazoria County, TX
The median pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Brazoria County, TX is $21,850 per year, which works out to $10.50 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area, the labor market that Brazoria County, TX 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 $24,530, which is 12.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 16,740 people working in this occupation across the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Brazoria County, TX has roughly 391,255 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $16,350 a year ($7.86 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $33,960 or more ($16.33 an hour). That is a gap of $17,610 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $16,920 at the 25th percentile and $28,250 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 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: $10.50 an hour or $21,850 a year at the median for Brazoria County, TX. Before any deductions, that is $1,821 a month, $840 every two weeks and $420 each week. After taxes the same job pays $9.41 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Brazoria County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
Pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Brazoria County, TX is in line with the statewide figure: $21,850 locally against an employment-weighted Texas average of $22,038, a difference of only $188 (0.8%). Within Texas, Brazoria County, TX 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 $21,850, Brazoria County, TX pays $9,619 less, which is 30.6% 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 Brazoria County, TX
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Brazoria County, TX, Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers ranks number 618 by median pay, ahead of about 0% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $172,160 a year, which is $150,310 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 Brazoria County, TX median of $21,850, they add up to $2,282. The result is $19,568 of take-home pay a year ($1,631 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $10 goes to taxes and $90 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 10.4%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $6,100. 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 $610, an effective 2.8% 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 $1,355 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $317. FICA totals $1,672, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
Texas does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Brazoria County, TX 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 $1,093 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $91 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Brazoria County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Brazoria County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $89,509 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.6% across all filers. Filers in the $10,000 to under $25,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 3.8%, compared with the 2.8% 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 Brazoria County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Brazoria County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $19,568 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Brazoria County, TX, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,212 a month ($14,544 a year), and at $1,319 for two bedrooms. For Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers, a one-bedroom absorbs 74.3% of take-home pay and 66.6% 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 15.7% of gross pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Brazoria County, TX. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Texas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,578 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $719, for $2,297 in total. Gasoline in Texas averages $2.88 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,334.
What is left over
The basics cost $21,611 a year in Brazoria County, TX, but take-home pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers is $19,568. That is a shortfall of $2,043 a year, or $170 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 217 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $9.41, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Can Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers afford to live in Brazoria County, TX?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $21,850 that ceiling is $546 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,212 is $666 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $23.31 an hour; the median for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers is $10.50, which is 55% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $9.41 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 29.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,319 a month means $660 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,630 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $4,587, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $21,850 median, lower housing costs than the $1,212 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers pay in Brazoria County, TX
How much do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers make per hour in Brazoria County, TX?
The median is $10.50 per hour, based on $21,850 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $7.86 at the 10th percentile to $16.33 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers take home after taxes in Brazoria County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $21,850 becomes $19,568 a year. That is $1,631 a month, $753 every two weeks or $376 a week.
How much tax do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers pay in Brazoria County, TX?
Total taxes are $2,282 a year, an effective rate of 10.4%: $610 federal income tax, $1,672 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Do Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers earn more in Brazoria County, TX than elsewhere in Texas?
It is about the same. The local median of $21,850 is within 0.8% of the Texas average of $22,038.
Can Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Brazoria County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $1,212 a month against take-home pay of $1,631, which is 74.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $546 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in Brazoria County, TX?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $21,611 a year, which is $2,043 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $170.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Brazoria County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$23.31 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,544 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers is $10.50.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 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 Texas 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.