Cooks, Short Order Salary
Cooks, Short Orders in St. Louis, MO-IL make a median of $38,490 a year, or about $18.5 an hour. The range runs from $32K at the entry level to $46K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 95.09), that's roughly $40,477 in purchasing power. A 2-bedroom apartment runs $1,218/month, about 46.4% of take-home, which is tight.
So what does $38K get you in St. Louis?
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by St. Louis’s Regional Price Parity (95.09). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
About cooks, short orders
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What this looks like in St. Louis
Cooks, short order pay in St. Louis tracks closely to the national median, $38K locally vs. $36K nationwide, a 7% difference. The catch: housing math doesn't keep up. A 2-bedroom at the HUD median rents for $1,218/month, which is 45.8% of the median worker's take-home, past the 30% guideline most planners use. Cost of living (RPP 95.09) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Use the affordability calculator above to model your specific situation.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for cooks, short orders in metros near St. Louis, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia | $35K | $39K |
| Kansas City | $30K | $32K |
| Oklahoma City | $36K | $40K |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | $37K | $36K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, St. Louis, MO-IL
Entry-level cooks, short orders (10th percentile) start around $32K. Mid-career wages sit at $38K. Top earners bring in $46K or more, a $15K spread from bottom to top.
Cooks, Short Order pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Cooks, Short Order salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $47K | +30% | 1,880 |
| Rhode Island | $46K | +29% | N/A |
| Massachusetts | $44K | +23% | 4,760 |
| Hawaii | $43K | +20% | 460 |
| California | $43K | +20% | 30,740 |
| Washington | $43K | +19% | 1,700 |
| Colorado | $42K | +18% | 1,900 |
| Connecticut | $42K | +18% | N/A |
| District of Columbia | $42K | +18% | 1,910 |
| New Jersey | $41K | +13% | 850 |
| Idaho | $40K | +12% | 120 |
| Vermont | $39K | +8% | 670 |
| Oregon | $39K | +7% | 1,780 |
| Delaware | $39K | +7% | N/A |
| Missouri | $38K | +7% | N/A |
| Utah | $38K | +6% | 320 |
| Alaska | $38K | +5% | 330 |
| Nevada | $38K | +5% | 790 |
| Illinois | $37K | +4% | 2,630 |
| New Mexico | $37K | +4% | 750 |
| Maryland | $37K | +3% | 3,250 |
| New York | $36K | -1% | 18,300 |
| Maine | $35K | -1% | 1,120 |
| Oklahoma | $35K | -2% | 760 |
| Michigan | $35K | -4% | 2,560 |
| Florida | $34K | -5% | 5,050 |
| Iowa | $34K | -5% | 1,160 |
| Montana | $33K | -7% | N/A |
| South Dakota | $32K | -10% | 2,000 |
| New Hampshire | $32K | -10% | 2,320 |
| Minnesota | $32K | -10% | 870 |
| Kentucky | $32K | -11% | 650 |
| North Carolina | $31K | -13% | 3,170 |
| Virginia | $31K | -13% | 3,350 |
| Nebraska | $31K | -15% | 1,810 |
| Arkansas | $31K | -15% | 160 |
| Tennessee | $30K | -16% | 2,510 |
| South Carolina | $30K | -17% | 900 |
| Ohio | $29K | -18% | 6,000 |
| Mississippi | $28K | -21% | 1,890 |
| Wisconsin | $28K | -22% | 2,270 |
| West Virginia | $27K | -24% | 620 |
| Kansas | $27K | -24% | 640 |
| Georgia | $27K | -25% | 3,870 |
| Louisiana | $26K | -27% | 1,990 |
| Texas | $25K | -29% | 7,540 |
| Alabama | $22K | -38% | N/A |
| Indiana | $22K | -39% | 2,940 |
| Pennsylvania | $20K | -45% | 3,510 |
Showing 1–10 of 49 states with published data
BLS does not publish data for every state when sample sizes are too small
Track cooks, short order salary changes
BLS updates this data quarterly. We'll email you when St. Louis numbers change.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a cooks, short order afford a 2BR apartment alone in St. Louis?
It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $38K, rent takes 45.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,218/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $800/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.
What’s the entry-level salary for cooks, short orders in St. Louis?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new cooks, short orders typically earn — is $32K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,897/month. At HUD’s $1,218/month FMR, rent would take 64% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is cooks, short order a high-paying job in St. Louis?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $38K locally vs. $36K nationally, a 7% difference.
How does St. Louis compare to the national average for cooks, short orders?
St. Louis pays $38K median vs. the U.S. average of $36K — that’s +7%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.09), the purchasing-power equivalent is $40K — still ahead of the national median.
How much do cooks, short orders make in St. Louis, MO-IL?
The median is $38,490 a year, that works out to about $19 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $31,610, and experienced cooks, short orders can clear $46,440. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $38K enough to live in St. Louis?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,661/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,218/month, which eats 45.8% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.
How far does a cooks, short order salary go in St. Louis?
St. Louis has a Regional Price Parity of 95.09 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median cooks, short order salary is worth about $40,477 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do cooks, short orders get paid the most?
The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.