Detectives and Criminal Investigators in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,076
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$35,764
28.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,122
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
$124,840
Kept after tax
$89,076
Worth in national money
$79,122
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $124,840, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 33.11% ahead of the national figure.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 79 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $124,840, tax leaves $89,076 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $79,122 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $121,530.
- For detectives and criminal investigators, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $124,840, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 33.11% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, detectives and criminal investigators sits 79 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, $89,076 remains from the California median of $124,840 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $79,122 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $121,530 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $165,510 |
| This salary | $124,840 |
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 | $89,076 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,594 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,281 |
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 | $114,067 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$28,100 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $124,840 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $78,280 and the ninetieth is $165,510 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $89,076, from $124,840, 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 79 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 $79,122 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 79.
- The California median of $124,840 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $78,280 to $165,510. 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 $89,076 from $124,840. 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 79 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $79,122, worked from $124,840, 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 79 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $78,280 at the bottom tenth to $165,510 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $79,122 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $89,076 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($78,280 to $165,510) 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 $79,122 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 $89,076 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.