What Waiters and Waitresses earn in Kaufman County, TX
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $24,160: the median annual pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Kaufman County, TX. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $11.62 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $30,530, which is 26.4% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 53,460 people working in this occupation across the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Kaufman County, TX has roughly 172,604 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $17,960 a year ($8.63 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $49,510 or more ($23.80 an hour). That is a gap of $31,550 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $18,520 at the 25th percentile and $37,280 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.8 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: $11.62 an hour or $24,160 a year at the median for Kaufman County, TX. Before any deductions, that is $2,013 a month, $929 every two weeks and $465 each week. After taxes the same job pays $10.32 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Kaufman County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
A worker in this occupation in Kaufman County, TX earns $301 more than the Texas average of $23,859, a premium of 1.3%. Over a year that premium is worth $301 before tax and roughly $268 after tax. Within Texas, Kaufman County, TX already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Waiters and Waitresses is $33,856 across the contiguous United States. At $24,160, Kaufman County, TX pays $9,696 less, which is 28.6% 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 Kaufman County, TX
Among the 627 occupations with published wages in Kaufman County, TX, Waiters and Waitresses ranks number 626 by median pay, ahead of about 0% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,810 a year, which is $149,650 more than the median for Waiters and Waitresses.
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 Waiters and Waitresses earning the Kaufman County, TX median of $24,160, they add up to $2,689. The result is $21,471 of take-home pay a year ($1,789 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $11 goes to taxes and $89 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 11.1%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $8,410. 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 $841, an effective 3.5% 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 $1,498 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $350. FICA totals $1,848, 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 Waiters and Waitresses in Kaufman 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 $1,208 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $101 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Kaufman County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Kaufman County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $73,732 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.4% across all filers. Filers in the $10,000 to under $25,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 3.9%, compared with the 3.5% 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 Kaufman County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Kaufman County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $21,471 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Kaufman 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 Waiters and Waitresses, a one-bedroom absorbs 85.8% of take-home pay and 76.3% 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 14.2% of gross pay for Waiters and Waitresses in Kaufman 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 $25,499 a year in Kaufman County, TX, but take-home pay for Waiters and Waitresses is $21,471. That is a shortfall of $4,029 a year, or $336 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 390 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $10.32, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Can Waiters and Waitresses afford to live in Kaufman 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 $24,160 that ceiling is $604 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,536 is $932 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 Waiters and Waitresses is $11.62, which is 61% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $10.32 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 34.3 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 $3,562, 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 $24,160 median, lower housing costs than the $1,536 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Waiters and Waitresses pay in Kaufman County, TX
How much do Waiters and Waitresses make per hour in Kaufman County, TX?
The median is $11.62 per hour, based on $24,160 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $8.63 at the 10th percentile to $23.80 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Waiters and Waitresses take home after taxes in Kaufman County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $24,160 becomes $21,471 a year. That is $1,789 a month, $826 every two weeks or $413 a week.
How much tax do Waiters and Waitresses pay in Kaufman County, TX?
Total taxes are $2,689 a year, an effective rate of 11.1%: $841 federal income tax, $1,848 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Do Waiters and Waitresses earn more in Kaufman County, TX than elsewhere in Texas?
Yes. The local median of $24,160 is +1.3% versus the Texas average of $23,859, a difference of $301 a year.
Can Waiters and Waitresses afford a one-bedroom apartment in Kaufman County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $1,536 a month against take-home pay of $1,789, which is 85.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $604 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Waiters and Waitresses in Kaufman County, TX?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $25,499 a year, which is $4,029 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $336.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Kaufman 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 Waiters and Waitresses is $11.62.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the 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.