Chef pay in Washington after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median cook in Washington earned $44,980 a year in May 2024, which is $22 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 34,790 cooks the BLS counts in Washington earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $38,360 and $47,180. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Washington's tax, and Washington has no state income tax on wages.

What the median cook keeps in Washington

For a single filer on the median $44,980, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

Washington takes nothing from wages, so the only deductions are federal. That is worth $2,249 a year against a state with a flat 5% tax on the same salary. No tax on wages; a 7% tax on large capital gains and a payroll premium for long-term care, which is not in the table. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Washington ranks for cook pay

Of the 50 states, Washington ranks 2 of 50 on the gross median for cooks, in the top ten. 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 Washington, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

None of Washington's neighbours beats it on take-home for cooks. Oregon and Idaho pay less once tax is counted. 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 Washington

The BLS count of 34,790 cooks is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Bellevue, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($47,180 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Washington 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 Washington

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Washington is $22 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($22) is what the typical cook makes.
• Comparing gross across states. Washington's zero state tax means its gross understates it against taxed states.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $42,980 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $47,980 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Seattle pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Washington, on one page

The Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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.