Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,936
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$6,834
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,032
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
$41,770
Kept after tax
$34,936
Worth in national money
$31,032
State rank
2
of 51 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 $41,770, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 17.1% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 453 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $41,770, tax leaves $34,936 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $31,032 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $42,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- California's median for automotive and watercraft service attendants is $41,770, about 17.1% above the national figure and 2 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Automotive and watercraft service attendants occupies position 453 of 492 in California's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $34,936 remains from the California median of $41,770 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $31,032 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $42,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,200 |
| This salary | $41,770 |
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 | $34,936 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,742 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,750 |
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 | $40,766 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,954 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $41,770. The published range is $36,360 up to $50,200, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $34,936, worked from $41,770. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 453 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,032 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 453.
- Reported values are medians; for automotive and watercraft service attendants in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,360 to $50,200. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The California take-home of $34,936, on $41,770 for work ranking 453 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 453 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,032, worked from $41,770, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 453 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,360 at the bottom tenth to $50,200 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $31,032 — 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 $34,936.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,360 to $50,200) 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 $31,032 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 $34,936 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.