What First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers earn in Clark County, WA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan area, the median pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA is $48,900 a year, or $23.51 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare (and no state income tax), the paycheck shrinks to $41,420 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Clark County, WA.
The mean wage is $53,300, which is 9.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,900 people working in this occupation across the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Clark County, WA has roughly 516,959 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 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $36,680 a year ($17.63 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $75,350 or more ($36.23 an hour). That is a gap of $38,670 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $44,170 at the 25th percentile and $60,730 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
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA is $23.51. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $48,900, and the same salary is $4,075 a month before taxes or about $1,881 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $19.91 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Clark County, WA compares
Compared with the Washington average
The local median of $48,900 sits below the Washington employment-weighted average of $55,565. The shortfall is $6,665 a year, or 12.0%, so Clark County, WA is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within Washington, the highest median we track for this job is $61,610 in King County, WA.
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 $48,900, Clark County, WA pays $6,721 more, which is 15.9% 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 Clark County, WA
Among the 592 occupations with published wages in Clark County, WA, First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers ranks number 481 by median pay, ahead of about 19% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $156,000 a year, which is $107,100 more than the median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $48,900 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 $7,480 a year, which leaves $41,420, or $3,452 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $33,150. 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 $3,740, an effective 7.6% 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 $3,032 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $709. FICA totals $3,741, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Washington
There is no state income tax on wages in Washington, which means First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA keep the full $41,420 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,445 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $204 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Clark County, WA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Clark County, WA show an average adjusted gross income of $100,756 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.8% 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 7.6% 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 Clark County, WA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Clark County, WA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $41,420 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Clark County, WA is $1,633 a month, or $19,596 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,878 a month. For First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 47.3% of take-home pay and 40.1% 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 7.0% of gross pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Washington residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,257 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $475, for $1,732 in total. Gasoline in Washington averages $4.07 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,883.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,646 a year, 64% of take-home pay. That leaves $14,773 a year, or $1,231 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 30.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers afford to live in Clark County, WA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $48,900 that ceiling is $1,223 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,633 is $411 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.40 an hour; the median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers is $23.51, which is 25% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $19.91 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 18.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,878 a month means $939 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,328 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,101.
How fast you can save
At $1,231 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 9 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 18 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 Clark County, WA
What is the hourly wage for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA?
The median is $23.51 per hour, based on $48,900 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $17.63 at the 10th percentile to $36.23 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $48,900 becomes $41,420 a year. That is $3,452 a month, $1,593 every two weeks or $797 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA?
Total taxes are $7,480 a year, an effective rate of 15.3%: $3,740 federal income tax, $3,741 FICA and no Washington income tax.
Is pay for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA above the Washington average?
No. The local median of $48,900 is -12.0% versus the Washington average of $55,565, a difference of $6,665 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers salary in Clark County, WA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,633 a month against take-home pay of $3,452, which is 47.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,223 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Clark County, WA?
About $1,231 a month ($14,773 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,646 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Clark County, WA at the 30% guideline?
$31.40 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,596 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers is $23.51.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 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 Washington 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.