What Chefs and Head Cooks earn in Broward County, FL
According to the latest federal wage data for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area, the median pay for Chefs and Head Cooks in Broward County, FL is $57,940 a year, or $27.86 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare (and no state income tax), the paycheck shrinks to $48,683 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Broward County, FL.
The mean wage is $60,190, which is 3.9% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,210 people working in this occupation across the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Broward County, FL has roughly 1,977,129 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Chefs and Head Cooks in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $30,480 a year ($14.65 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $90,020 or more ($43.28 an hour). That is a gap of $59,540 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $37,440 at the 25th percentile and $75,430 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 3.0 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $27.86 an hour or $57,940 a year at the median for Broward County, FL. Before any deductions, that is $4,828 a month, $2,228 every two weeks and $1,114 each week. After taxes the same job pays $23.41 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Chefs and Head Cooks
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Chefs and Head Cooks this way: "Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods. May plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met"; "Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations"; "Check the quantity and quality of received products"; "Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation".
Job outlook for Chefs and Head Cooks
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 220,300 jobs in 2025 to 234,700 in 2035, a change of +6.6%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 25,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.4% of current employment each year. About 6.8% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Work experience in a related occupation: 5 years or more. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $62,470 for this occupation; the Broward County, FL median of $57,940 is 7.3% below it.
How pay in Broward County, FL compares
Compared with the Florida average
Pay for Chefs and Head Cooks in Broward County, FL is in line with the statewide figure: $57,940 locally against an employment-weighted Florida average of $57,739, a difference of only $201 (0.3%). Within Florida, Broward County, FL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Chefs and Head Cooks is $63,566 across the contiguous United States. At $57,940, Broward County, FL pays $5,626 less, which is 8.8% below 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 Broward County, FL
Among the 572 occupations with published wages in Broward County, FL, Chefs and Head Cooks ranks number 285 by median pay, ahead of about 50% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $169,600 a year, which is $111,660 more than the median for Chefs and Head Cooks.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Chefs and Head Cooks earning the Broward County, FL median of $57,940, they add up to $9,257. The result is $48,683 of take-home pay a year ($4,057 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $42,190. 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 $4,824, an effective 8.3% 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 $3,592 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $840. FICA totals $4,432, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Florida
Florida does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Chefs and Head Cooks in Broward County, FL is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,897 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $241 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Broward County, FL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Broward County, FL show an average adjusted gross income of $95,423 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.4% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.3%, compared with the 8.3% 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 Broward County, FL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Broward County, FL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $48,683 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Broward County, FL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,902 a month ($22,824 a year), and at $2,321 for two bedrooms. For Chefs and Head Cooks, a one-bedroom absorbs 46.9% of take-home pay and 39.4% 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 5.9% of gross pay for Chefs and Head Cooks in Broward County, FL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Florida residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,494 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $1,005, for $2,498 in total. Gasoline in Florida averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,427.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $30,186 a year in Broward County, FL. Subtract that from $48,683 of take-home pay and $18,498 remains, which is $1,541 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 31.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Broward County, FL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Broward County, FL: 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 Broward County, FL, set beside the Florida and national medians.
Property taxes in Broward County, FL
Homeowners in Broward County, FL pay a median of $3,890 a year in real estate taxes, 42% above the Florida median of $2,730 and 25% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $414,600, the median tax bill is 0.94% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Chefs and Head Cooks median of $57,940, a tax bill of that size would equal 6.7% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Broward County, FL
Renters in Broward County, FL pay a median gross rent of $1,907 a month in the Census survey, 14% above the Florida median of $1,669. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,902 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 $414,600, 15% above the Florida median of $359,000. Median household income is $77,633, 4% above the Florida median of $74,568, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 29.4% of that income.
Commuting in Broward County, FL
Workers in Broward County, FL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 29.1 minutes each way, 4% above the Florida average of 28.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.7% of workers in Broward County, FL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Chefs and Head Cooks afford to live in Broward County, FL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $57,940 that ceiling is $1,448 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,902 is $454 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $36.58 an hour; the median for Chefs and Head Cooks is $27.86, which is 24% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $23.41 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 18.8 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,321 a month means $1,161 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,898 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $27,396.
How fast you can save
At $1,541 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Chefs and Head Cooks pay in Broward County, FL
How much do Chefs and Head Cooks make per hour in Broward County, FL?
The median is $27.86 per hour, based on $57,940 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.65 at the 10th percentile to $43.28 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Chefs and Head Cooks take home after taxes in Broward County, FL?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $57,940 becomes $48,683 a year. That is $4,057 a month, $1,872 every two weeks or $936 a week.
How much tax do Chefs and Head Cooks pay in Broward County, FL?
Total taxes are $9,257 a year, an effective rate of 16.0%: $4,824 federal income tax, $4,432 FICA and no Florida income tax.
Do Chefs and Head Cooks earn more in Broward County, FL than elsewhere in Florida?
It is about the same. The local median of $57,940 is within 0.3% of the Florida average of $57,739.
Can Chefs and Head Cooks afford a one-bedroom apartment in Broward County, FL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,902 a month against take-home pay of $4,057, which is 46.9% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,448 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Chefs and Head Cooks in Broward County, FL?
About $1,541 a month ($18,498 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $30,186 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Broward County, FL at the 30% guideline?
$36.58 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $22,824 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Chefs and Head Cooks is $27.86.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 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 Florida 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.