Insurance Underwriters in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,115
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$24,205
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,168
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
$95,320
Kept after tax
$71,115
Worth in national money
$63,168
State rank
11
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for insurance underwriters is strong here. California's middle earner gets $95,320, putting the state 11 of 49 — about 17.14% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in California, this sits in the middle: 147 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 $95,320 the take-home is $71,115. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $63,168 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $102,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For insurance underwriters, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $95,320, ranking 11 of 49 and running about 17.14% 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.
- Insurance underwriters ranks 147 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 $71,115 for insurance underwriters, from $95,320. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,168. ⚠️ 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 $102,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Insurance Underwriters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $95,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,640 |
| This salary | $95,320 |
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 | $71,115 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,888 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,926 |
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 | $88,536 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,617 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $95,320 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $65,070 and the ninetieth is $162,640 — 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 $71,115, worked from $95,320. 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 147 of 492.
- Two cautions on $63,168, the adjusted value of that $95,320 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 147 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $95,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $65,070 to $162,640. 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 $71,115, on $95,320 for work ranking 147 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 147 of 492 in the state.
- This $63,168 adjusted figure, worked from $95,320, 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 147 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 147 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 $102,850, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $65,070, the highest tenth $162,640, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $63,168 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $71,115.
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 $102,850. 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 ($65,070) and the ninetieth ($162,640) 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 $63,168 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 $71,115 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.