---
title: "Average Salary in California"
description: "Mean $80,690, median $58,240 in California (BLS OEWS May 2025), with prices, pay by field and top jobs."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/average-salary/california"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Average salary in California

Mean annual wage $80,690, median $58,240 (US: $69,770 / $50,980), BLS OEWS May 2025. Median at national-average prices: $52,600 (rank 26 of 51 by that measure; rank 10 nominal).

| Percentile | California | US |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10th | $35,950 | $31,200 |
| 25th | $41,600 | $37,590 |
| 50th | $58,240 | $50,980 |
| 75th | $97,880 | $80,520 |
| 90th | $159,080 | $128,560 |

## Price levels (BEA Regional Price Parities, US = 100)

| Category | Index |
| --- | --- |
| All items | 110.7 |
| Housing (rents) | 154.3 |
| Goods | 106.1 |
| Utilities | 158.9 |
| Other services | 102.6 |

## By occupation group

| Group | Median | Workers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Management | $143,220 | 1,330,280 |
| Computer and Mathematical | $138,670 | 717,740 |
| Legal | $129,550 | 158,370 |
| Architecture and Engineering | $124,010 | 327,600 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | $123,330 | 990,550 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | $101,700 | 206,700 |
| Business and Financial Operations | $96,110 | 1,265,010 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | $79,520 | 338,230 |
| Construction and Extraction | $71,670 | 672,770 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | $69,190 | 1,087,510 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | $64,660 | 546,040 |
| Community and Social Service | $62,590 | 407,070 |
| Office and Administrative Support | $54,900 | 1,878,550 |
| Protective Service | $51,700 | 461,860 |
| Production | $47,860 | 744,730 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | $45,850 | 1,504,070 |
| Sales | $45,400 | 1,454,670 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | $44,250 | 509,190 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | $40,250 | 1,622,960 |
| Personal Care and Service | $39,500 | 408,180 |
| Healthcare Support | $35,950 | 1,373,820 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | $35,890 | 207,800 |

## Most common jobs

- [Fast Food and Counter Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fast-food-and-counter-worker): 449,840 workers
- [Retail Salesperson](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-salesperson): 376,460 workers
- [Laborer and Freight, Stock, and Material Mover, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laborer-and-freight-stock-and-material-mover-hand): 355,500 workers
- [Registered Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/registered-nurse): 338,940 workers
- [Cashier](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cashier): 336,110 workers
- [Office Clerk, General](https://nuecareer.com/careers/office-clerk-general): 311,490 workers
- [Stocker and Order Filler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stocker-and-order-filler): 310,870 workers
- [General and Operations Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-and-operations-manager): 300,840 workers
- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer): 284,390 workers
- [Janitor and Cleaner, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners](https://nuecareer.com/careers/janitor-and-cleaner): 234,240 workers

## Highest-paying jobs (500+ workers)

- [Ophthalmologist, Except Pediatric](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ophthalmologist): $400,150 median
- [Neurologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/neurologist): $357,080 median
- [Airline Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot): $353,900 median
- [Psychiatrist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/psychiatrist): $353,500 median
- [General Internal Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-internal-medicine-physician): $313,890 median
- [Obstetrician and Gynecologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/obstetrician-and-gynecologist): $301,240 median
- [Nurse Anesthetist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nurse-anesthetist): $292,410 median
- [Allergist and Immunologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/allergist-and-immunologist): $281,590 median
- [Radiologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/radiologist): $270,560 median
- [Chief Executive](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chief-executive): $218,600 median

## Most over-represented jobs (location quotient)

- [Farmworker and Laborer, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmworker-and-laborer-crop-nursery-and-greenhouse): 5.54x the national share
- [Marriage and Family Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/marriage-and-family-therapist): 4.47x the national share
- [Law Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/law-teacher-postsecondary): 3.32x the national share
- [Agent and Business Manager of Artists, Performers, and Athletes](https://nuecareer.com/careers/agent-and-business-manager-of-artists-performers-and-athletes): 3.28x the national share
- [Forest and Conservation Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forest-and-conservation-worker): 3.20x the national share
- [First-Line Supervisor of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-farming-fishing-and-forestry-workers): 3.19x the national share
- [Special Effects Artist and Animator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/special-effects-artist-and-animator): 3.17x the national share
- [Taper](https://nuecareer.com/careers/taper): 3.02x the national share
- [Plasterer and Stucco Mason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plasterer-and-stucco-mason): 3.00x the national share
- [Lighting Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lighting-technician): 2.83x the national share

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology