What Cooks, Restaurant earn in Denton County, TX
The median pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Denton County, TX is $36,490 per year, which works out to $17.54 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area, the labor market that Denton 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 $35,860, which is 1.7% below the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 34,430 people working in this occupation across the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Denton County, TX has roughly 979,561 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cooks, Restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $28,020 a year ($13.47 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $45,280 or more ($21.77 an hour). That is a gap of $17,260 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $30,150 at the 25th percentile and $38,920 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
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $17.54 an hour or $36,490 a year at the median for Denton County, TX. Before any deductions, that is $3,041 a month, $1,403 every two weeks and $702 each week. After taxes the same job pays $15.12 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Denton County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
A worker in this occupation in Denton County, TX earns $2,249 more than the Texas average of $34,241, a premium of 6.6%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,249 before tax and roughly $1,939 after tax. Within Texas, Denton County, TX already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cooks, Restaurant is $38,193 across the contiguous United States. At $36,490, Denton County, TX pays $1,703 less, which is 4.5% 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 Denton County, TX
Among the 627 occupations with published wages in Denton County, TX, Cooks, Restaurant ranks number 565 by median pay, ahead of about 10% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,810 a year, which is $137,320 more than the median for Cooks, Restaurant.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Cooks, Restaurant earning the Denton County, TX median of $36,490, they add up to $5,042. The result is $31,448 of take-home pay a year ($2,621 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $14 goes to taxes and $86 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 13.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $20,740. 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 $2,250, an effective 6.2% 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 $2,262 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $529. FICA totals $2,791, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
Texas does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Cooks, Restaurant in Denton County, TX is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,825 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $152 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Denton County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Denton County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $118,678 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 15.5% 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 6.2% 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 Denton County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Denton County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $31,448 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Denton County, TX, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,536 a month ($18,432 a year), and at $1,807 for two bedrooms. For Cooks, Restaurant, a one-bedroom absorbs 58.6% of take-home pay and 50.5% 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 9.4% of gross pay for Cooks, Restaurant in Denton 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
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $25,499 a year in Denton County, TX. Subtract that from $31,448 of take-home pay and $5,949 remains, which is $496 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 16.3% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford to live in Denton 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 $36,490 that ceiling is $912 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,536 is $624 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.54 an hour; the median for Cooks, Restaurant is $17.54, which is 41% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.12 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 23.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,807 a month means $904 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,590 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $13,539.
How fast you can save
At $496 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 21 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 42 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cooks, Restaurant pay in Denton County, TX
How much do Cooks, Restaurant make per hour in Denton County, TX?
The median is $17.54 per hour, based on $36,490 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.47 at the 10th percentile to $21.77 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cooks, Restaurant take home after taxes in Denton County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $36,490 becomes $31,448 a year. That is $2,621 a month, $1,210 every two weeks or $605 a week.
How much tax do Cooks, Restaurant pay in Denton County, TX?
Total taxes are $5,042 a year, an effective rate of 13.8%: $2,250 federal income tax, $2,791 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Do Cooks, Restaurant earn more in Denton County, TX than elsewhere in Texas?
Yes. The local median of $36,490 is +6.6% versus the Texas average of $34,241, a difference of $2,249 a year.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford a one-bedroom apartment in Denton County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $1,536 a month against take-home pay of $2,621, which is 58.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $912 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cooks, Restaurant in Denton County, TX?
About $496 a month ($5,949 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $25,499 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Denton County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$29.54 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,432 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cooks, Restaurant is $17.54.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, 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.