Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,210
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$5,370
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,834
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
$35,580
Kept after tax
$30,210
Worth in national money
$26,834
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $35,580, ranking 26 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 491 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $35,580, tax leaves $30,210 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $26,834 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $37,860, since top earners drag the number up.
- California occupies the middle band for farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse: a median of $35,580, ranking 26 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse occupies position 491 of 492 in California's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $30,210 remains from the California median of $35,580 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $26,834 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $37,860 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,870 |
| This salary | $35,580 |
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 | $30,210 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,769 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,829 |
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 | $34,884 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,841 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $35,580. The published range is $34,320 up to $44,870, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $30,210, worked from $35,580. 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 491 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,834, the adjusted value of that $35,580 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 491 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,320 to $44,870. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The California take-home of $30,210, on $35,580 for work ranking 491 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 491 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $26,834 — the adjusted value of that $35,580 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 491 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 $37,860 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,320 at the tenth percentile, $44,870 at the ninetieth.
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 $26,834 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; California then takes its own share, leaving $30,210.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $37,860. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,320 to $44,870) 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 $26,834 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 $30,210 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.