Biological Technicians in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,445
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$14,995
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,137
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
$71,440
Kept after tax
$56,445
Worth in national money
$50,137
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for biological technicians is strong here. California's middle earner gets $71,440, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 24.22% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Biological technicians ranks 243 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $71,440 the take-home is $56,445. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $50,137 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $78,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For biological technicians, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $71,440, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 24.22% 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.
- Position 243 of 492 in California places biological technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $56,445 for biological technicians, from $71,440. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,137. ⚠️ 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 $78,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Biological Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $121,670 |
| This salary | $71,440 |
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 | $56,445 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,088 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,668 |
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 | $67,683 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,517 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,440 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,700 and the ninetieth is $121,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $56,445, from $71,440, 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 243 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $50,137, the adjusted value of that $71,440 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 243 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $71,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,700 to $121,670. 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 $56,445 from $71,440. 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 243 of 492 locally.
- This $50,137 adjusted figure, worked from $71,440, 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 243 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 243 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $78,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $46,700 and the top tenth $121,670 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $50,137 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $56,445 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $78,170. 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 ($46,700) and the ninetieth ($121,670) 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 $50,137 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 $56,445 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.