Average salary in San Diego: $79,060 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area, with the median, the pay spread and the jobs behind it.
BLS reports occupational wages for the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metropolitan statistical area (CBSA 41740), which includes San Diego, Chula Vista and Carlsbad and surrounding communities. Figures describe that whole area, not San Diego city limits.
The average salary in the San Diego metro area is $79,060 a year ($38.01 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 1,538,060 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $58,690 ($28.21 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 San Diego compares with California and the U.S.
The metro area's mean salary is $1,630 (2.0%) below the California statewide figure of $80,690 and $9,290 (13.3%) above the U.S. figure of $69,770.
| Measure | San Diego metro | California | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $79,060 | $80,690 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $58,690 | $58,240 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $38.01 | $38.79 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $28.21 | $28.00 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 1,538,060 | 18,213,700 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for the San Diego metro area in 2024 is 111.9, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 11.9% above the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in the San Diego area pay, from low to high
One job in ten in the metro area paid less than $36,250 a year, and one in ten paid more than $152,580. A quarter paid less than $41,740; a quarter paid more than $97,410.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego metro | $36,250 | $41,740 | $58,690 | $97,410 | $152,580 |
| 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 the San Diego area
The largest group in the San Diego area is food preparation and serving related, with 161,910 jobs (11% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($136,440); the lowest-paid is healthcare support ($37,290). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 161,910 | $38,840 | $44,220 |
| Office and Administrative Support | 155,940 | $52,940 | $57,900 |
| Sales and Related | 124,550 | $44,010 | $58,460 |
| Management | 116,230 | $136,440 | $156,320 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 114,570 | $95,930 | $102,790 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 98,510 | $45,010 | $50,630 |
| Healthcare Support | 91,350 | $37,290 | $43,170 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 89,280 | $66,290 | $80,960 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 87,050 | $126,810 | $135,680 |
| Construction and Extraction | 65,430 | $67,580 | $76,000 |
| Production | 61,280 | $49,160 | $56,530 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 58,190 | $129,520 | $134,020 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 49,220 | $43,520 | $45,590 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 45,900 | $63,220 | $69,110 |
| Personal Care and Service | 41,260 | $38,980 | $46,020 |
| Protective Service | 40,420 | $54,100 | $69,060 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 39,180 | $118,100 | $123,540 |
| Community and Social Service | 35,750 | $59,750 | $68,560 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 25,270 | $97,780 | $103,430 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 19,990 | $67,100 | $84,500 |
| Legal | 13,860 | $126,570 | $154,420 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 2,920 | $38,300 | $46,390 |
The occupations with the most jobs in the San Diego area
9 of the 12 largest occupations in the San Diego area with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $58,690 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 57,080 | $35,300 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 42,550 | $42,190 |
| Retail Salespersons | 34,390 | $37,810 |
| Cashiers | 30,420 | $37,020 |
| Registered Nurses | 28,680 | $139,520 |
| Office Clerks, General | 28,470 | $49,920 |
| General and Operations Managers | 26,230 | $119,600 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | 24,050 | $35,850 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 21,950 | $43,320 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 21,700 | $38,450 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 21,220 | $39,160 |
| Software Developers | 20,610 | $163,270 |
Go deeper
Pay for every occupation in the area.
Open →PricesCost of living in San DiegoWhat a salary buys there.
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How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metropolitan statistical area (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).