What Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria earn in Gloucester County, NJ
The median pay for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ is $38,870 per year, which works out to $18.69 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, the labor market that Gloucester County, NJ belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $39,980, which is 2.9% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 9,810 people working in this occupation across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Gloucester County, NJ has roughly 306,954 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $30,340 a year ($14.59 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $48,400 or more ($23.27 an hour). That is a gap of $18,060 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,580 at the 25th percentile and $45,560 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 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 Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ is $18.69. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $38,870, and the same salary is $3,239 a month before taxes or about $1,495 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $15.73 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria this way: "Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation"; "Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons"; "Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served"; "Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry".
Job outlook for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 454,000 jobs in 2025 to 466,600 in 2035, a change of +2.8%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 62,900 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.9% 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 $37,450 for this occupation; the Gloucester County, NJ median of $38,870 is 3.8% above it.
How pay in Gloucester County, NJ compares
Compared with the New Jersey average
The local median of $38,870 sits below the New Jersey employment-weighted average of $43,368. The shortfall is $4,498 a year, or 10.4%, so Gloucester County, NJ is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within New Jersey, the highest median we track for this job is $46,870 in Bergen County, NJ.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria is $37,849 across the contiguous United States. At $38,870, Gloucester County, NJ pays $1,021 more, which is 2.7% 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 Gloucester County, NJ
Among the 636 occupations with published wages in Gloucester County, NJ, Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria ranks number 569 by median pay, ahead of about 11% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,470 a year, which is $134,600 more than the median for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $38,870 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 $6,152 a year, which leaves $32,718, or $2,726 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 15.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $23,120. 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 $2,536, an effective 6.5% 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 $2,410 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $564. FICA totals $2,974, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Jersey
New Jersey income tax on this salary is $643 a year, or 1.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 25% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $54 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 Gloucester County, NJ
IRS Statistics of Income data for Gloucester County, NJ show an average adjusted gross income of $93,899 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 6.5% 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 Gloucester County, NJ
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Gloucester County, NJ: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $32,718 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Gloucester County, NJ is $1,558 a month, or $18,696 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,860 a month. For Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria, a one-bedroom absorbs 57.1% of take-home pay and 48.1% 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 8.8% of gross pay for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Jersey residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,044 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $518, for $2,562 in total. Gasoline in New Jersey averages $3.21 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,484.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,177 a year, 80% of take-home pay. That leaves $6,540 a year, or $545 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 16.8% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Gloucester County, NJ
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Gloucester County, NJ: 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 Gloucester County, NJ, set beside the New Jersey and national medians.
Property taxes in Gloucester County, NJ
Homeowners in Gloucester County, NJ pay a median of $8,055 a year in real estate taxes, 16% below the New Jersey median of $9,590 and 158% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $310,400, the median tax bill is 2.60% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria median of $38,870, a tax bill of that size would equal 20.7% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Gloucester County, NJ
Renters in Gloucester County, NJ pay a median gross rent of $1,531 a month in the Census survey, 11% below the New Jersey median of $1,720. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,558 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 $310,400, 32% below the New Jersey median of $454,400. Median household income is $105,115, 2% above the New Jersey median of $103,556, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 17.8% of that income.
Commuting in Gloucester County, NJ
Workers in Gloucester County, NJ who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.2 minutes each way, 8% below the New Jersey average of 30.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.9% of workers in Gloucester County, NJ work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria afford to live in Gloucester County, NJ?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $38,870 that ceiling is $972 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,558 is $586 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.96 an hour; the median for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria is $18.69, which is 38% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.73 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 22.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,860 a month means $930 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,536 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,076.
How fast you can save
At $545 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 19 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 38 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria pay in Gloucester County, NJ
What is the hourly wage for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ?
The median is $18.69 per hour, based on $38,870 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.59 at the 10th percentile to $23.27 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $38,870 becomes $32,718 a year. That is $2,726 a month, $1,258 every two weeks or $629 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ?
Total taxes are $6,152 a year, an effective rate of 15.8%: $2,536 federal income tax, $2,974 FICA and $643 New Jersey income tax.
Is pay for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ above the New Jersey average?
No. The local median of $38,870 is -10.4% versus the New Jersey average of $43,368, a difference of $4,498 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria salary in Gloucester County, NJ?
A one-bedroom costs $1,558 a month against take-home pay of $2,726, which is 57.1% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $972 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Gloucester County, NJ?
About $545 a month ($6,540 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,177 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Gloucester County, NJ at the 30% guideline?
$29.96 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,696 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria is $18.69.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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 New Jersey 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.