Fundraisers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,585
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$18,125
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,703
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
$79,710
Kept after tax
$61,585
Worth in national money
$54,703
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fundraisers is strong here. California's middle earner gets $79,710, putting the state 4 of 51 — about 9.87% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in California, this sits in the middle: 196 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $79,710 the take-home is $61,585. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $54,703 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $86,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For fundraisers, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $79,710, ranking 4 of 51 and running about 9.87% 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.
- Fundraisers ranks 196 of 492 occupations in California by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $61,585 for fundraisers, from $79,710. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,703. ⚠️ 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 $86,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Fundraisers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,720 |
| This salary | $79,710 |
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 | $61,585 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,906 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,090 |
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 | $74,989 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,266 |
| 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 $79,710. The published range is $50,340 up to $131,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $61,585 take-home in California comes from $79,710. 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 196 of 492.
- Two cautions on $54,703, the adjusted value of that $79,710 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 196 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for fundraisers in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,340 to $131,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $61,585, from $79,710, 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 196 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- This $54,703 adjusted figure, worked from $79,710, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 196 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 196 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 $86,320, 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 $50,340, the highest tenth $131,720, 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 $54,703 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 $61,585.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $86,320. 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 ($50,340) and the ninetieth ($131,720) 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 $54,703 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 $61,585 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.