What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn in Hidalgo County, TX
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $22,790: the median annual pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $10.96 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $25,170, which is 10.4% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 12,160 people working in this occupation across the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Hidalgo County, TX has roughly 891,977 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 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $20,520 a year ($9.87 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $32,840 or more ($15.79 an hour). That is a gap of $12,320 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $21,690 at the 25th percentile and $27,450 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
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX is $10.96. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $22,790, and the same salary is $1,899 a month before taxes or about $877 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $9.78 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Hidalgo County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
The local median of $22,790 sits below the Texas employment-weighted average of $27,012. The shortfall is $4,222 a year, or 15.6%, so Hidalgo County, TX is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within Texas, the highest median we track for this job is $29,310 in Travis County, TX.
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 $22,790, Hidalgo County, TX pays $8,641 less, which is 27.5% 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 Hidalgo County, TX
Among the 364 occupations with published wages in Hidalgo County, TX, Fast Food and Counter Workers ranks number 357 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Home Health and Personal Care Aides at $23,960 a year, which is $1,170 more than the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $22,790 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $2,447 a year, which leaves $20,343, or $1,695 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $11 goes to taxes and $89 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 10.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $7,040. 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 $704, an effective 3.1% 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 $1,413 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $330. FICA totals $1,743, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
There is no state income tax on wages in Texas, which means Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX keep the full $20,343 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,140 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $95 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Hidalgo County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Hidalgo County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $48,948 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 9.4% across all filers. Filers in the $10,000 to under $25,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.2%, compared with the 3.1% 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 Hidalgo County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Hidalgo County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $20,343 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Hidalgo County, TX is $806 a month, or $9,672 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,017 a month. For Fast Food and Counter Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 47.5% of take-home pay and 42.4% 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 15.1% of gross pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo 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
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $16,739 a year, 82% of take-home pay. That leaves $3,603 a year, or $300 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 15.8% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford to live in Hidalgo 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 $22,790 that ceiling is $570 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $806 is $236 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $15.50 an hour; the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $10.96, which is 29% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $9.78 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,017 a month means $509 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,570 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $7,173.
How fast you can save
At $300 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 34 months (2.8 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 68 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Hidalgo County, TX
What is the hourly wage for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX?
The median is $10.96 per hour, based on $22,790 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $9.87 at the 10th percentile to $15.79 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $22,790 becomes $20,343 a year. That is $1,695 a month, $782 every two weeks or $391 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX?
Total taxes are $2,447 a year, an effective rate of 10.7%: $704 federal income tax, $1,743 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Is pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX above the Texas average?
No. The local median of $22,790 is -15.6% versus the Texas average of $27,012, a difference of $4,222 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Fast Food and Counter Workers salary in Hidalgo County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $806 a month against take-home pay of $1,695, which is 47.5% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $570 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Hidalgo County, TX?
About $300 a month ($3,603 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,739 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Hidalgo County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$15.50 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,672 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $10.96.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, 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.