Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,713
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$10,407
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,604
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
$56,120
Kept after tax
$45,713
Worth in national money
$40,604
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $56,120, putting the state 12 of 51 — about 13.49% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 332 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $56,120 the take-home is $45,713. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $40,604 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $60,750, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For hazardous materials removal workers, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $56,120, ranking 12 of 51 and running about 13.49% 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.
- Position 332 of 492 in California places hazardous materials removal workers 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 $45,713 for hazardous materials removal workers, from $56,120. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,604. ⚠️ 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 $60,750 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: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,470 |
| This salary | $56,120 |
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 | $45,713 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,272 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,042 |
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 | $54,179 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,726 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,120 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,660 and the ninetieth is $85,470 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $45,713, from $56,120, 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 332 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,604, the adjusted value of that $56,120 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 332 of 492 in the state.
- The California median of $56,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,660 to $85,470. 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 $45,713 from $56,120. 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 332 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $40,604 — the adjusted value of that $56,120 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 332 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 $60,750, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $41,660 and the top tenth $85,470 — 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 $40,604 of national purchasing power.
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 $45,713.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $60,750. 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 ($41,660) and the ninetieth ($85,470) 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 $40,604 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 $45,713 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.