Maintenance Workers, Machinery in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,201
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$13,639
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,144
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
$67,840
Kept after tax
$54,201
Worth in national money
$48,144
State rank
6
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays maintenance workers, machinery a middle wage of $67,840, ranking 6 of 46 states and sitting about 11.49% above the national middle.
- Against other work in California, this sits in the middle: 249 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $67,840 the take-home is $54,201; in national-average money that behaves like $48,144. The average comes to $68,780, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California's median for maintenance workers, machinery is $67,840, about 11.49% above the national figure and 6 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Maintenance workers, machinery ranks 249 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.
- Take-home for maintenance workers, machinery in California, on $67,840, is $54,201; deflated by the state's price level, $48,144. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $68,780 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Maintenance Workers, Machinery
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,440 |
| This salary | $67,840 |
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 | $54,201 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,555 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,056 |
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 | $64,743 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,328 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of maintenance workers, machinery in California earn under $67,840 and half over. The published range runs $46,000 at the tenth percentile to $93,440 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $54,201, from $67,840, 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 249 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $48,144, the adjusted value of that $67,840 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 249 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for maintenance workers, machinery in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,000 to $93,440; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $54,201 from $67,840. 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 249 of 492 locally.
- This $48,144 adjusted figure, worked from $67,840, 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 249 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 249 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,000 at the tenth percentile, $93,440 at the ninetieth.
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 $48,144 — 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 $54,201.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,000 to $93,440) 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 $48,144 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 $54,201 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.