Real salary data
What Fast Food and Counter Workers actually earn in 2026.
The median for Fast Food and Counter Worker is $36,400 across 213 real salary records (H-1B visa filings and tech job postings), updated Oct 26, 2026.
01 / By source
Real salary bands, by source.
Bands come from 213 real records. Each source has a different bias, disclosed below.
Density curve fitted to the observed quartiles (log-normal). $33,862–$42,640 contains the middle 50% of records in the best-represented source; the shape between them is an approximation.
| Source | Records | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job postings | 213 | $33,862 | $36,400 | $42,640 |
- Job postings that disclose salary in the ad text
Salary data updated Oct 26, 2026. Bands are percentiles, not averages; n is the number of underlying records.
02 / By city
What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn, by city.
Real records; cities with at least 10 observations.
| City | Records | Range (p25–p75) | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno, CA | 33 | $41,600 – $44,970 | $44,970 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 23 | $41,600 – $43,940 | $42,640 |
| New York, NY | 19 | $35,360 – $38,480 | $36,400 |
| Boston, MA | 15 | $32,760 – $39,967 | $36,078 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 12 | $26,780 – $33,862 | $30,160 |
| Nashville, TN | 11 | $36,239 – $37,190 | $37,190 |
| Albuquerque, NM | 10 | $33,862 – $35,100 | $33,862 |
| Chicago, IL | 10 | $34,536 – $38,886 | $38,480 |
| Denver, CO | 10 | $37,752 – $43,077 | $40,414 |
| Grand Rapids, MI | 10 | $31,330 – $33,862 | $33,041 |
| Miami, FL | 10 | $32,240 – $45,760 | $35,526 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 10 | $30,940 – $36,223 | $34,975 |
03 / By state
What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn, by state.
| State | Records | Range (p25–p75) | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 60 | $41,600 – $44,970 | $44,439 |
| MI | 19 | $31,460 – $33,862 | $33,862 |
| NY | 19 | $35,360 – $38,480 | $36,400 |
| MA | 15 | $32,760 – $39,967 | $36,078 |
| OK | 12 | $26,780 – $33,862 | $30,160 |
| FL | 11 | $33,280 – $48,880 | $35,526 |
| TN | 11 | $36,239 – $37,190 | $37,190 |
| CO | 10 | $37,752 – $43,077 | $40,414 |
| IL | 10 | $34,536 – $38,886 | $38,480 |
| MN | 10 | $30,940 – $36,223 | $34,975 |
| NM | 10 | $33,862 – $35,100 | $33,862 |
04 / Context
How Fast Food and Counter Workers pay compares with similar roles.
| Profession | Risk | Median | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook | High | $38,740 | +14.9% (2024–34) |
| Dishwasher | Critical | $37,440 | +0.2% (2024–34) |
| Food Service Manager | High | $65,000 | +6.4% (2024–34) |
05 / Next step
How to move up the pay band.
The skills below appear most often in higher-paid roles:
- udemyHow to Immigrate to Canada as a Food Service worker.Intermediate
- udemyWhole Food Plant Based Nutrition 3.0– Fast & Fun QuizzesIntermediate
- udemyCertified Board Member ExecutiveIntermediate
- udemyNonprofit Board Member BasicsAdvanced
- udemyFood Service SupervisorIntermediate
- udemyFood Delivery Business: How to start a food delivery serviceIntermediate
- udemyHome Health Aide, Nurse Aide, Caregiver Certification CourseAdvanced
- udemyCertified Dietary ManagerIntermediate
06 / FAQ
Salary questions, answered.
01Why are the bands different from the BLS median?
The BLS median covers all Fast Food and Counter Worker in the US. These bands come from real records with known biases — H-1B filings skew to visa-eligible (high-skill) roles and tech postings skew to tech employers — so they sit above the national median. We disclose the source of every band.
02How often is this data updated?
The dataset refreshes weekly from live job postings and quarterly from new H-1B disclosures.