What Waiters and Waitresses earn in Brazoria County, TX
The median pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX is $22,080 per year, which works out to $10.62 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area, the labor market that Brazoria County, TX 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 $29,180, which is 32.2% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 51,330 people working in this occupation across the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Brazoria County, TX has roughly 391,255 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $17,480 a year ($8.40 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $47,290 or more ($22.74 an hour). That is a gap of $29,810 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $17,870 at the 25th percentile and $37,390 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.7 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 Brazoria County, TX is $10.62. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $22,080, and the same salary is $1,840 a month before taxes or about $849 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $9.50 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Brazoria County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
The local median of $22,080 sits below the Texas employment-weighted average of $23,859. The shortfall is $1,779 a year, or 7.5%, so Brazoria County, TX is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within Texas, the highest median we track for this job is $24,160 in Dallas County, TX.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Waiters and Waitresses is $33,856 across the contiguous United States. At $22,080, Brazoria County, TX pays $11,776 less, which is 34.8% 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 Brazoria County, TX
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Brazoria County, TX, Waiters and Waitresses ranks number 617 by median pay, ahead of about 0% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $119,600 a year, which is $97,520 more than the median for Waiters and Waitresses.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $22,080 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 $2,322 a year, which leaves $19,758, or $1,646 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $11 goes to taxes and $89 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 10.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $6,330. 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 10% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $633, an effective 2.9% of gross pay, well below the 10% 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 $1,369 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $320. FICA totals $1,689, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
There is no state income tax on wages in Texas, which means Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX keep the full $19,758 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,104 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $92 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Brazoria County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Brazoria County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $89,509 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.6% across all filers. Filers in the $10,000 to under $25,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 3.8%, compared with the 2.9% 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 Brazoria County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Brazoria County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $19,758 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Brazoria County, TX is $1,212 a month, or $14,544 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,319 a month. For Waiters and Waitresses, a one-bedroom absorbs 73.6% of take-home pay and 65.9% 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 15.6% of gross pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Texas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,578 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $719, for $2,297 in total. Gasoline in Texas averages $2.88 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,334.
What is left over
The basics cost $21,611 a year in Brazoria County, TX, but take-home pay for Waiters and Waitresses is $19,758. That is a shortfall of $1,853 a year, or $154 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 195 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $9.50, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Can Waiters and Waitresses afford to live in Brazoria County, TX?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $22,080 that ceiling is $552 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,212 is $660 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $23.31 an hour; the median for Waiters and Waitresses is $10.62, which is 54% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $9.50 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 29.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,319 a month means $660 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,630 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $4,777, 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 $22,080 median, lower housing costs than the $1,212 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Waiters and Waitresses pay in Brazoria County, TX
What is the hourly wage for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX?
The median is $10.62 per hour, based on $22,080 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $8.40 at the 10th percentile to $22.74 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $22,080 becomes $19,758 a year. That is $1,646 a month, $760 every two weeks or $380 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX?
Total taxes are $2,322 a year, an effective rate of 10.5%: $633 federal income tax, $1,689 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Is pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX above the Texas average?
No. The local median of $22,080 is -7.5% versus the Texas average of $23,859, a difference of $1,779 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Waiters and Waitresses salary in Brazoria County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $1,212 a month against take-home pay of $1,646, which is 73.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $552 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Waiters and Waitresses in Brazoria County, TX?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $21,611 a year, which is $1,853 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $154.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Brazoria County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$23.31 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,544 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Waiters and Waitresses is $10.62.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 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 Texas 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.