Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,615
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$7,045
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,635
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
$42,660
Kept after tax
$35,615
Worth in national money
$31,635
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for maids and housekeeping cleaners. The middle earner takes $42,660, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 20.14% above the national middle.
- Against 492 occupations California publishes, maids and housekeeping cleaners lands at 449. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $42,660 the take-home is $35,615. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $31,635 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $45,930, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for maids and housekeeping cleaners, at $42,660 — about 20.14% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within California, this work ranks 449 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $35,615 for maids and housekeeping cleaners, from $42,660. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,635. ⚠️ 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 $45,930 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: Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,450 |
| This salary | $42,660 |
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 | $35,615 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,457 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,882 |
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 | $41,612 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,114 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,660 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,680 and the ninetieth is $63,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $35,615, from $42,660, 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 449 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $31,635, the adjusted value of that $42,660 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 449 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $42,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,680 to $63,450. 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 $35,615 from $42,660. 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 449 of 492 locally.
- This $31,635 adjusted figure, worked from $42,660, 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 449 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 449 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 $45,930, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,680 and the top tenth $63,450, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $31,635 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $35,615 remains.
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 $45,930. 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 ($35,680 to $63,450) 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 $31,635 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 $35,615 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.