Construction and Building Inspectors in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,760
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$26,530
26.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,405
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
$101,290
Kept after tax
$74,760
Worth in national money
$66,405
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for construction and building inspectors. The middle earner takes $101,290, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 35.61% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in California. It ranks 122 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $101,290 the take-home is $74,760. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $66,405 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $103,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for construction and building inspectors, at $101,290 — about 35.61% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within California, construction and building inspectors ranks 122 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $74,760 for construction and building inspectors, from $101,290. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $66,405. ⚠️ 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 $103,850 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: Construction and Building Inspectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,550 |
| This salary | $101,290 |
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 | $74,760 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,088 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,011 |
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 | $93,717 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$22,116 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $101,290 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $56,220 and the ninetieth is $161,550 — 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 $74,760, worked from $101,290. 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 122 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,405 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 122.
- The California median of $101,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $56,220 to $161,550. 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 $74,760, on $101,290 for work ranking 122 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 122 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,405, worked from $101,290, 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 122 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $56,220, the highest tenth $161,550, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $66,405 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 $74,760 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($56,220) and the ninetieth ($161,550) 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 $66,405 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 $74,760 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.