Chef pay in Idaho after taxes: what you keep (2026)
The median cook in Idaho earned $34,890 a year in May 2024, which is $17 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 8,290 cooks the BLS counts in Idaho earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $27,880 and $37,420. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Idaho's tax, and Idaho has a flat 5.3% state income tax.
What the median cook keeps in Idaho
For a single filer on the median $34,890, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:
| Line | A year | A month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay (BLS median) | $34,890 | $2,908 |
| Federal income tax | -$2,203 | -$184 |
| Social Security and Medicare (7.65%) | -$2,669 | -$222 |
| Idaho state income tax | -$1,849 | -$154 |
| Take-home | $28,169 | $2,347 |
The state line is 5.3% of gross at this salary. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.
Where Idaho ranks for cook pay
Of the 50 states, Idaho ranks 39 of 50 on the gross median for cooks. The highest-paying state is Massachusetts at $46,280 and the lowest is West Virginia at $28,560. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.
Across the border
The same job in the states next to Idaho, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:
| State | Gross median | State tax | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho | $34,890 | $1,849 | $28,169 |
| Washington | $44,980 | $0 | $38,125 |
| Nevada | $37,170 | $0 | $31,850 |
| Wyoming | $36,770 | $0 | $31,529 |
| Montana | $36,830 | $1,521 | $30,056 |
| Oregon | $38,040 | $2,636 | $29,913 |
| Utah | $36,510 | $1,643 | $29,677 |
Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and Utah leave a cook with more at the end of the year than Idaho does; Washington by about $9,956. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.
Where the cook jobs are in Idaho
The BLS count of 8,290 cooks is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Idaho Falls, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($37,420 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Idaho openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.
What people get wrong about cook pay in Idaho
- Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Idaho is $16 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($17) is what the typical cook makes.
- Comparing gross across states. A $34,890 offer in Idaho is $28,169 in hand; the same number in a no-tax state is $30,018.
- Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $32,890 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $37,890 without it.
- Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Boise pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.
Everything about Idaho, on one page
The Idaho page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Idaho this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Idaho employers hiring from out of state.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Chef. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.
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