Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,374
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$12,016
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,745
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
$62,390
Kept after tax
$50,374
Worth in national money
$44,745
State rank
8
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays this job a middle wage of $62,390, ranking 8 of 45 states and sitting about 18.61% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 278.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $62,390 the take-home is $50,374. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $44,745 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $69,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California's median for audiovisual equipment installers and repairers is $62,390, about 18.61% above the national figure and 8 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In California's occupational distribution, audiovisual equipment installers and repairers sits at 278 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $50,374 for audiovisual equipment installers and repairers, from $62,390. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,745. ⚠️ 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 $69,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,890 |
| This salary | $62,390 |
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 | $50,374 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,310 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,086 |
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 | $59,981 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,989 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,390 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,100 and the ninetieth is $104,890 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $50,374 take-home in California comes from $62,390. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 278 of 492.
- Two cautions on $44,745, the adjusted value of that $62,390 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 278 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $62,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,100 to $104,890. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $50,374, from $62,390, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 278 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 45 for it.
- This $44,745 adjusted figure, worked from $62,390, 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 278 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 278 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $69,850 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $44,100 at the bottom tenth to $104,890 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. California costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $44,745 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $50,374 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $69,850. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($44,100) and the ninetieth ($104,890) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $44,745 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 $50,374 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.