What Waiters and Waitresses earn in Los Angeles County, CA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $35,850: the median annual pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $17.24 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $42,640, which is 18.9% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 85,210 people working in this occupation across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Los Angeles County, CA has roughly 9,808,667 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Waiters and Waitresses in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $34,380 a year ($16.53 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $59,200 or more ($28.46 an hour). That is a gap of $24,820 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,010 at the 25th percentile and $37,230 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.7 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 Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA is $17.24. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $35,850, and the same salary is $2,988 a month before taxes or about $1,379 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $14.66 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Los Angeles County, CA compares
Compared with the California average
The local median of $35,850 sits below the California employment-weighted average of $36,300. The shortfall is $450 a year, or 1.2%, so Los Angeles County, CA is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within California, the highest median we track for this job is $38,860 in Alameda County, CA.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Waiters and Waitresses is $33,856 across the contiguous United States. At $35,850, Los Angeles County, CA pays $1,994 more, which is 5.9% 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 Los Angeles County, CA
Among the 633 occupations with published wages in Los Angeles County, CA, Waiters and Waitresses ranks number 627 by median pay, ahead of about 1% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Lawyers at $194,410 a year, which is $158,560 more than the median for Waiters and Waitresses.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $35,850 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 $5,362 a year, which leaves $30,488, or $2,541 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $20,100. 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 $2,174, an effective 6.1% 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 $2,223 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $520. FICA totals $2,743, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in California
California income tax on this salary is $446 a year, or 1.2% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 21% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $37 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 Los Angeles County, CA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Los Angeles County, CA show an average adjusted gross income of $101,268 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.7% 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 6.1% 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 Los Angeles County, CA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Los Angeles County, CA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,488 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles County, CA is $2,402 a month, or $28,824 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,964 a month. For Waiters and Waitresses, a one-bedroom absorbs 94.5% of take-home pay and 80.4% 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 9.6% of gross pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using California residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,378 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $751, for $4,129 in total. Gasoline in California averages $4.42 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $2,047.
What is left over
The basics cost $38,435 a year in Los Angeles County, CA, but take-home pay for Waiters and Waitresses is $30,488. That is a shortfall of $7,947 a year, or $662 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 542 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $14.66, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Can Waiters and Waitresses afford to live in Los Angeles County, CA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $35,850 that ceiling is $896 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,402 is $1,506 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $46.19 an hour; the median for Waiters and Waitresses is $17.24, which is 63% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.66 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 37.8 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,964 a month means $1,482 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,040 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $3,093, 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 $35,850 median, lower housing costs than the $2,402 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Waiters and Waitresses pay in Los Angeles County, CA
What is the hourly wage for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA?
The median is $17.24 per hour, based on $35,850 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.53 at the 10th percentile to $28.46 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $35,850 becomes $30,488 a year. That is $2,541 a month, $1,173 every two weeks or $586 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA?
Total taxes are $5,362 a year, an effective rate of 15.0%: $2,174 federal income tax, $2,743 FICA and $446 California income tax.
Is pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA above the California average?
No. The local median of $35,850 is -1.2% versus the California average of $36,300, a difference of $450 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Waiters and Waitresses salary in Los Angeles County, CA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,402 a month against take-home pay of $2,541, which is 94.5% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $896 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Waiters and Waitresses in Los Angeles County, CA?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $38,435 a year, which is $7,947 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $662.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Los Angeles County, CA at the 30% guideline?
$46.19 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $28,824 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Waiters and Waitresses is $17.24.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 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 California 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.