Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,055
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$18,425
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,120
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
$80,480
Kept after tax
$62,055
Worth in national money
$55,120
State rank
17
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. California is 17 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $80,480. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 189.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $80,480, tax leaves $62,055 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $55,120 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $87,070, since top earners drag the number up.
- California ranks 17 of 49 for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other at $80,480. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In California's occupational distribution, engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other sits at 189 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $62,055 remains from the California median of $80,480 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $55,120 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $87,070 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,880 |
| This salary | $80,480 |
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 | $62,055 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,448 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,230 |
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 | $75,658 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,531 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in California earn under $80,480 and half over. The published range runs $52,060 at the tenth percentile to $128,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $62,055 take-home in California comes from $80,480. 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 189 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,120 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 189.
- Figures are distribution medians for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,060 to $128,880; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $62,055, from $80,480, 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 189 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,120, worked from $80,480, 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 189 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 $87,070 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $52,060 at the bottom tenth to $128,880 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $55,120 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, $62,055 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $87,070. 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 ($52,060) and the ninetieth ($128,880) 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 $55,120 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 $62,055 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.