Fast Food and Counter Workers in New York-Newark-Jersey City

BLS metro-level wage data places Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ at a median of $35,420 per year ($17.03/hr/hour), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared to the national median of $31,200, New York-Newark-Jersey City pays +14% above, signaling either concentrated employer demand, a cost-of-living premium, or both. Approximately 166,040 fast food and counter workerss are employed across the New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA in SOC 35-3023.

The New York-Newark-Jersey City pay distribution spans from $33,070 at the 10th percentile to $44,130 at the 90th, a 1.3× spread that reflects experience tenure, specialization, employer size, and the difference between public-sector, nonprofit, and private-sector compensation inside the metro. The 25th percentile sits at $34,480 and the 75th at $37,790, so half of New York-Newark-Jersey City-based fast food and counter workerss earn within that middle band.

Metro figures capture where you actually work, not just where you live, which matters for commuters. BLS draws metro boundaries from the OMB MSA definitions, so New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ covers the central city plus outlying counties tied to the metro economically. Remember that OEWS wages reflect base pay only: employer-provided health insurance, retirement matches, stock options, signing bonuses, overtime, and tips are excluded and can add 20-40% to real total compensation. Before using this metro median as a negotiation anchor, triangulate against the same occupation's national profile (linked below), its state-wide NY data, and peer-metro comparisons, a median is a starting point, not a ceiling.