Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,893
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$19,597
23.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,753
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
$83,490
Kept after tax
$63,893
Worth in national money
$56,753
State rank
2
of 50 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 $83,490, ranking 2 of 50 states and sitting about 28.55% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 173 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $83,490 the take-home is $63,893. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $56,753 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $85,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California's median for civil engineering technologists and technicians is $83,490, about 28.55% above the national figure and 2 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 173 of 492 in California places civil engineering technologists and 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 $63,893 for civil engineering technologists and technicians, from $83,490. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,753. ⚠️ 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 $85,570 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: Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $111,150 |
| This salary | $83,490 |
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 | $63,893 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,565 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,777 |
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 | $78,270 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,567 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $83,490 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $54,690 and the ninetieth is $111,150 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $63,893, worked from $83,490. 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 173 of 492.
- Two cautions on $56,753, the adjusted value of that $83,490 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 173 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $83,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $54,690 to $111,150. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The California take-home of $63,893, on $83,490 for work ranking 173 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 173 of 492 in the state.
- This $56,753 adjusted figure, worked from $83,490, 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 173 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 173 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $54,690 and the top tenth $111,150, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $56,753 of national purchasing power.
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 $63,893 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($54,690 to $111,150) 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 $56,753 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 $63,893 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.