Athletic Trainers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,840
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$17,650
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,041
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$78,490
Kept after tax
$60,840
Worth in national money
$54,041
State rank
1
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for athletic trainers is strong here. California's middle earner gets $78,490, putting the state 1 of 50 — about 25.54% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in California, this sits in the middle: 205 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $78,490 the take-home is $60,840. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $54,041 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $80,780, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For athletic trainers, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $78,490, ranking 1 of 50 and running about 25.54% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Athletic trainers ranks 205 of 492 occupations in California by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $60,840 for athletic trainers, from $78,490. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,041. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $80,780 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Athletic Trainers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $108,050 |
| This salary | $78,490 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $60,840 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,048 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,868 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $73,931 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,846 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,490 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $54,770 and the ninetieth is $108,050 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $60,840, from $78,490, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 205 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $54,041, the adjusted value of that $78,490 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 205 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $78,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $54,770 to $108,050. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,840 from $78,490. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 205 of 492 locally.
- This $54,041 adjusted figure, worked from $78,490, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 205 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 205 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $54,770 and the top tenth $108,050, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $54,041 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; California then takes its own share, leaving $60,840.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($54,770 to $108,050) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $54,041 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $60,840 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.