Database Architects in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$115,838
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$54,323
31.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$102,893
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
$170,160
Kept after tax
$115,838
Worth in national money
$102,893
State rank
1
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for database architects. The middle earner takes $170,160, which ranks 1 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 21.98% above the national middle.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, database architects ranks 14 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $170,160, tax leaves $115,838 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $102,893 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $175,330, since top earners drag the number up.
- California ranks 1 of 46 states publishing a median for database architects, at $170,160 — about 21.98% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, database architects sits 14 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.
- After tax, $115,838 remains from the California median of $170,160 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $102,893 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $175,330 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Database Architects
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $101,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $170,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $227,900 |
| This salary | $170,160 |
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 | $115,838 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $127,570 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$28,386 |
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 | $152,994 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$40,358 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $170,160 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $101,200 and the ninetieth is $227,900 — 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 $115,838, worked from $170,160. 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 14 of 492.
- Two cautions on $102,893, the adjusted value of that $170,160 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 14 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $170,160 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $101,200 to $227,900. 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 $115,838, on $170,160 for work ranking 14 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 14 of 492 in the state.
- This $102,893 adjusted figure, worked from $170,160, 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 14 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 14 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 $175,330 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 $101,200 and the top tenth $227,900 — 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 $102,893 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, $115,838 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $175,330. 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 ($101,200) and the ninetieth ($227,900) 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 $102,893 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 $115,838 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.