Dental Laboratory Technicians in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,237
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$8,173
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,852
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
$47,410
Kept after tax
$39,237
Worth in national money
$34,852
State rank
32
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. California pays this job a middle wage of $47,410, 32 of 46 states and about 4.43% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within California this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 390. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,410 the take-home is $39,237. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,852 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $53,210, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California's $47,410 median for dental laboratory technicians places it 32 of 46 states, about 4.43% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation California reports, dental laboratory technicians ranks 390 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $39,237 for dental laboratory technicians, from $47,410. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,852. ⚠️ 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 $53,210 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Laboratory Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,200 |
| This salary | $47,410 |
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 | $39,237 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,274 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,593 |
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 | $46,119 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,973 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,410 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,660 and the ninetieth is $74,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,237 take-home in California comes from $47,410. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 390 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,852 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 390.
- The California median of $47,410 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,660 to $74,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,237, from $47,410, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 390 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,852, worked from $47,410, 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 390 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 $53,210, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,660, the highest tenth $74,200, 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 $34,852 rather than its face figure.
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, $39,237 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 $53,210. 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 ($36,660) and the ninetieth ($74,200) 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 $34,852 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 $39,237 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.