Restaurant Manager Salary in Palmdale, CA: Median $37,831 in 2026
Palmdale (CA) · COL index 118 · Unemployment 5.2% · Metro pop 170,000 · Rank #53 of 283 for Restaurant Manager salary
A Restaurant Manager in Palmdale earns an estimated median of $37,831 per year. That figure starts from the California state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($35,970) and scales it by Palmdale's composite cost-of-living index of 118 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $33,908; the 90th percentile reaches $52,408. After federal, California state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Restaurant Manager takes home approximately $31,851/year — about $2,654/month or $1,225 every other week.
Compared to the national Restaurant Manager median of $61,310, Palmdale pays -38.3%. Relative to the Palmdale median household income of $62,800, a Restaurant Managersalary runs -39.8%. Local unemployment is 5.2%[3], with an estimated 27 annual Restaurant Manager openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (348,900).
Restaurant Manager Snapshot — Palmdale (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Palmdale | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Manager median salary | $37,831 | $61,310 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $33,908 | $46,870 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $52,408 | $104,130 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $31,851 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $415,000 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,550/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,425/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $62,800 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 118.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 5.2% | — | [3] |
How Restaurant Manager Salaries Work in Palmdale
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the California state-level OEWS median ($35,970) and scaling by Palmdale's composite cost-of-living index (118)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and California state income tax at a 1.8% effective rate ($674/yr on the $37,831 median)[10].
Palmdale also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. Near-national unemployment means a balanced market — employers and candidates negotiate from roughly equal positions. Median household income in the metro is $62,800, which frames what "a good Restaurant Manager salary" means locally: a $$37,831 wage pays about 60% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Palmdale
Estimated annual expense shares on a $31,851 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Palmdale's COL index of 118. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Palmdale's COL index of 118[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,550/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Palmdale
Renting
Buying
At $2,654/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $796/mo. Palmdale's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,550/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,425/mo), making rent severely cost-burdened on a median Restaurant Manager salary. For homebuyers, the 11.0× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How Palmdale Stacks Up for Restaurant Managers
Against 283 major US cities: Palmdale ranks #53 for nominal Restaurant Manager salary, #155 for rent affordability, and #234 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Palmdale's nominal wage premium. Restaurant Managers here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Restaurant Manager Salary Comparison
Palmdale's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmdale, CA ★ | $37,831 | 118 | $1,550 | — |
| Los Angeles, CA | $106,066 | 173 | $2,050 | +180.4% |
| San Francisco, CA | $131,203 | 214 | $3,498 | +246.8% |
| San Jose, CA | $121,394 | 198 | $2,195 | +220.9% |
| San Diego, CA | $99,935 | 163 | $2,195 | +164.2% |
| Riverside, CA | $74,798 | 122 | $1,750 | +97.7% |
Restaurant Manager Job Market in Palmdale
Palmdale has an estimated 27 annual Restaurant Manageropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 348,900 national Restaurant Managers[1]. The 5.2% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
About the profession: Restaurant managers oversee daily operations of food service establishments, managing staff, inventory, customer service, and financial performance. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma; some college preferred. Projected growth through 2034: 5%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Palmdale
Early-career Restaurant Managers in Palmdale start around $33,908, reach the city median ($37,831) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($52,408) at senior / specialized levels.
Related service professions in Palmdale
Calculators for Restaurant Managers in Palmdale
Other professions in Palmdale
Frequently Asked Questions — Restaurant Manager in Palmdale
How much does a Restaurant Manager make in Palmdale, CA?
The estimated median salary for a Restaurant Manager in Palmdale is $37,831/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS California state median ($35,970) by Palmdale's composite cost-of-living index of 118 (US = 100). After federal, California state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $31,851/year or $2,654/month.
Can a Restaurant Manager afford to live in Palmdale?
On $2,654/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $796/month. Palmdale's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,550/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,425/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 49.2%, making housing severely cost-burdened for a Restaurant Manager at the local median. Home-buyers face 11.0× price-to-income, needing roughly 11.0 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Restaurant Manager pay in Palmdale?
On $37,831 gross, a Restaurant Manager in Palmdale pays approximately $2,411 in federal income tax (6.4% effective), $674 in California state income tax (1.8% effective), and $2,895 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 15.8%. Some California cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Palmdale rank for Restaurant Manager salaries vs other cities?
Palmdale ranks #53 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Restaurant Manager salary, #155 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #234 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Restaurant Manager in Palmdale?
On $31,851 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Palmdale looks like: housing $18,600/yr (58.4%); food $4,235/yr; transportation $3,414/yr; healthcare $2,350/yr; utilities $1,736/yr; savings + discretionary $1,516/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Palmdale's COL index of 118 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Restaurant Manager job market like in Palmdale?
Palmdale's unemployment rate is 5.2% across the metro of 170,000. Estimated annual Restaurant Manager openings: ~27 (extrapolated from 348,900 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Palmdale employers pay above or below the California median for Restaurant Managers?
Not consistently — Palmdale's estimated Restaurant Manager median of $37,831 is 38.3% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Palmdale median is derived from the California state-level BLS OEWS median ($35,970), scaled by Palmdale's composite cost-of-living index of 118. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Restaurant Managermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses California's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 118index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 112.2(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- California Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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