Average salary in California: $80,690 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in California, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in California is $80,690 a year ($38.79 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 18,213,700 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $58,240 ($28.00 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How California compares with the United States
California's mean salary is $10,920 (15.7%) above the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $7,260 (14.2%) above the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, California ranks 5th by mean salary and 10th by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | California | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $80,690 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $58,240 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $38.79 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $28.00 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 18,213,700 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for California in 2024 is 110.7, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 10.7% above the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in California pay, from low to high
One job in ten in California paid less than $35,950 a year, and one in ten paid more than $159,080. A quarter paid less than $41,600; a quarter paid more than $97,880.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $35,950 | $41,600 | $58,240 | $97,880 | $159,080 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in California
The largest group in California is office and administrative support, with 1,878,550 jobs (10% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($143,220); the lowest-paid is farming, fishing, and forestry ($35,890). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 1,878,550 | $54,900 | $59,330 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 1,622,960 | $40,250 | $43,930 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 1,504,070 | $45,850 | $53,010 |
| Sales and Related | 1,454,670 | $45,400 | $61,710 |
| Healthcare Support | 1,373,820 | $35,950 | $41,640 |
| Management | 1,330,280 | $143,220 | $166,140 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 1,265,010 | $96,110 | $106,190 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 1,087,510 | $69,190 | $81,870 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 990,550 | $123,330 | $133,180 |
| Production | 744,730 | $47,860 | $54,930 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 717,740 | $138,670 | $151,880 |
| Construction and Extraction | 672,770 | $71,670 | $78,280 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 546,040 | $64,660 | $71,370 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 509,190 | $44,250 | $47,220 |
| Protective Service | 461,860 | $51,700 | $71,870 |
| Personal Care and Service | 408,180 | $39,500 | $46,580 |
| Community and Social Service | 407,070 | $62,590 | $73,710 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 338,230 | $79,520 | $104,120 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 327,600 | $124,010 | $128,910 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 207,800 | $35,890 | $39,990 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 206,700 | $101,700 | $109,910 |
| Legal | 158,370 | $129,550 | $174,130 |
The occupations with the most jobs in California
9 of the 12 largest occupations in California with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $58,240 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 970,150 | $34,320 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 449,840 | $42,280 |
| Retail Salespersons | 376,460 | $38,440 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 355,500 | $44,710 |
| Registered Nurses | 338,940 | $140,270 |
| Cashiers | 336,110 | $37,100 |
| Office Clerks, General | 311,490 | $48,460 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 310,870 | $42,870 |
| General and Operations Managers | 300,840 | $124,390 |
| Software Developers | 284,390 | $174,410 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 234,240 | $41,090 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | 229,970 | $36,080 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorCalifornia minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in CaliforniaWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsCalifornia unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
Open →Take-homeCalifornia paycheck calculatorPay after taxes, per paycheck.
Open →MetroAverage salary in Los AngelesPay in the metro area.
Open →MetroAverage salary in San DiegoPay in the metro area.
Open →MetroAverage salary in San FranciscoPay in the metro area.
Open →CalculatorSalary to hourly calculatorConvert any salary or hourly rate.
Open →NegotiateSalary negotiationAsk for the top of the range.
Open →All statesAverage salary by stateEvery state on one page.
Open →Disclosure: TryHired makes HIRED, a paid job-search program, so we have a conflict of interest when we mention it. Everything on this page is free to use without buying anything.
Questions people ask
What is the average salary in California?
What is the median salary in California?
What is a good salary in California?
Does the average salary include self-employed people?
How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in California (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).