Financial Specialists, All Other in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,257
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$18,553
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,299
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
$80,810
Kept after tax
$62,257
Worth in national money
$55,299
State rank
21
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. California pays financial specialists, all other around $80,810 at the midpoint, 21 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Financial specialists, all other ranks 187 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $80,810 the take-home is $62,257. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $55,299 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $98,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For financial specialists, all other the California median is $80,810, ranking 21 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 187 of 492 in California places financial specialists, all other in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $62,257 for financial specialists, all other, from $80,810. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,299. ⚠️ 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 $98,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Financial Specialists, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $163,120 |
| This salary | $80,810 |
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 | $62,257 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,680 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,290 |
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 | $75,944 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,644 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,810 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,160 and the ninetieth is $163,120 — 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 $62,257, worked from $80,810. 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 187 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,299, the adjusted value of that $80,810 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 187 of 492 in the state.
- The California median of $80,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,160 to $163,120. 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 $62,257, on $80,810 for work ranking 187 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 187 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $55,299 — the adjusted value of that $80,810 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 187 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $98,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,160 and the top tenth $163,120 — 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 $55,299 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, $62,257 remains.
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 $98,100. 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 ($49,160) and the ninetieth ($163,120) 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 $55,299 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 $62,257 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.