Chief Executives in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$146,330
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$72,270
33.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$129,978
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
$218,600
Kept after tax
$146,330
Worth in national money
$129,978
State rank
17
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California sits in the middle of the pack for chief executives. The median is $218,600, ranking 17 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, chief executives ranks 4 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $218,600 the take-home is $146,330; in national-average money that behaves like $129,978. The average comes to $272,920, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California occupies the middle band for chief executives: a median of $218,600, ranking 17 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, chief executives sits 4 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for chief executives in California, on $218,600, is $146,330; deflated by the state's price level, $129,978. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $272,920 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Chief Executives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $85,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $218,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $486,830 |
| This salary | $218,600 |
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 | $146,330 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $162,568 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$37,316 |
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 | $196,517 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$50,290 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $218,600 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $85,790 and the ninetieth is $486,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $146,330, from $218,600, 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 4 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $129,978 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 4.
- The California median of $218,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $85,790 to $486,830. 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 $146,330 from $218,600. 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 4 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $129,978, worked from $218,600, 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 4 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 $272,920 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $85,790 and the top tenth $486,830 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $129,978 rather than its face figure.
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 $146,330.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $272,920. 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 ($85,790) and the ninetieth ($486,830) 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 $129,978 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 $146,330 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.