Food Servers, Nonrestaurant Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $31K, rent takes 62.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,337/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $600/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new food servers, nonrestaurants typically earn — is $31K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,872/month.

Local pay runs 12% below the national median — $31K here vs. $35K nationally.

Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area pays $31K median vs. the U.S. average of $35K — that’s -12%.

The median is $31,240 a year, that works out to about $15 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $31,200, and experienced food servers, nonrestaurants can clear $36,180. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,133/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,337/month, which eats 62.7% 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.

Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median food servers, nonrestaurant salary is worth about $31,240 in national-average purchasing power.

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.