What Fast Food and Counter Workers earn in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
According to the latest federal wage data for the New Haven, CT metropolitan area, the median pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT is $35,290 a year, or $16.97 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $29,583 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT.
The mean wage is $36,200, which is 2.6% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 5,900 people working in this occupation across the New Haven, CT metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT has roughly 570,598 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 New Haven, CT metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $34,010 a year ($16.35 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $37,730 or more ($18.14 an hour). That is a gap of $3,720 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $34,690 at the 25th percentile and $36,080 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.1 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 Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT is $16.97. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $35,290, and the same salary is $2,941 a month before taxes or about $1,357 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $14.22 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Fast Food and Counter Workers this way: "Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints"; "Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary"; "Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment"; "Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary".
Job outlook for Fast Food and Counter Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 3,855,900 jobs in 2025 to 4,079,100 in 2035, a change of +5.8%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 827,400 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 21.5% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $31,200 for this occupation; the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT median of $35,290 is 13.1% above it.
How pay in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT compares
Compared with the Connecticut average
Pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT is in line with the statewide figure: $35,290 locally against an employment-weighted Connecticut average of $35,373, a difference of only $83 (0.2%). Within Connecticut, the highest median we track for this job is $36,550 in Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT.
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 $35,290, South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT pays $3,859 more, which is 12.3% 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 South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
Among the 402 occupations with published wages in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT, Fast Food and Counter Workers ranks number 392 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Registered Nurses at $104,490 a year, which is $69,200 more than the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $35,290 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 $5,707 a year, which leaves $29,583, or $2,465 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.2%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $19,540. 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 $2,106, an effective 6.0% 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 $2,188 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $512. FICA totals $2,700, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Connecticut
Connecticut income tax on this salary is $901 a year, or 2.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 43% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $75 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
IRS Statistics of Income data for South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT show an average adjusted gross income of $93,953 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.5% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.3%, compared with the 6.0% 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 South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $29,583 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT is $1,743 a month, or $20,916 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,091 a month. For Fast Food and Counter Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 70.7% of take-home pay and 59.3% 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 9.7% of gross pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Connecticut residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,037 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $667, for $3,704 in total. Gasoline in Connecticut averages $3.37 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,559.
What is left over
The basics cost $29,615 a year in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT, but take-home pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $29,583. That is a shortfall of $32 a year, or $3 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 2 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $14.22, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT, set beside the Connecticut and national medians.
Property taxes in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
Homeowners in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT pay a median of $6,759 a year in real estate taxes, 2% above the Connecticut median of $6,643 and 117% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $353,100, the median tax bill is 1.91% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $35,290, a tax bill of that size would equal 19.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
Renters in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT pay a median gross rent of $1,525 a month in the Census survey, 2% above the Connecticut median of $1,488. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,743 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $353,100, 4% below the Connecticut median of $366,900. Median household income is $88,197, 8% below the Connecticut median of $95,781, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 23.7% of that income.
Commuting in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT who travel to a workplace spend an average of 23.5 minutes each way, 11% below the Connecticut average of 26.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.9 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.3% of workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Fast Food and Counter Workers afford to live in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $35,290 that ceiling is $882 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,743 is $861 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $33.52 an hour; the median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $16.97, which is 49% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.22 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 28.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,091 a month means $1,046 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,370 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $8,338, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $35,290 median, lower housing costs than the $1,743 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT
What is the hourly wage for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT?
The median is $16.97 per hour, based on $35,290 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.35 at the 10th percentile to $18.14 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $35,290 becomes $29,583 a year. That is $2,465 a month, $1,138 every two weeks or $569 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT?
Total taxes are $5,707 a year, an effective rate of 16.2%: $2,106 federal income tax, $2,700 FICA and $901 Connecticut income tax.
Is pay for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT above the Connecticut average?
It is about the same. The local median of $35,290 is within 0.2% of the Connecticut average of $35,373.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Fast Food and Counter Workers salary in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT?
A one-bedroom costs $1,743 a month against take-home pay of $2,465, which is 70.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $882 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $29,615 a year, which is $32 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $3.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT at the 30% guideline?
$33.52 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $20,916 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Fast Food and Counter Workers is $16.97.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the New Haven, CT 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 Connecticut 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.