Paramedics in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,409
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$16,181
21.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,882
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
$74,590
Kept after tax
$58,409
Worth in national money
$51,882
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for paramedics is strong here. California's middle earner gets $74,590, putting the state 8 of 51 — about 23.09% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 232.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $74,590, tax leaves $58,409 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $51,882 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $77,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- For paramedics, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $74,590, ranking 8 of 51 and running about 23.09% 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.
- In California's occupational distribution, paramedics sits at 232 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $58,409 remains from the California median of $74,590 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $51,882 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $77,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paramedics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,450 |
| This salary | $74,590 |
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 | $58,409 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,304 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,204 |
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 | $70,475 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,557 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $74,590 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $53,370 and the ninetieth is $102,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $58,409 take-home in California comes from $74,590. 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 232 of 492.
- Two cautions on $51,882, the adjusted value of that $74,590 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 232 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $74,590 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $53,370 to $102,450. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $58,409, from $74,590, 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 232 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- This $51,882 adjusted figure, worked from $74,590, 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 232 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 232 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 $77,740, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $53,370 at the bottom tenth to $102,450 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $51,882 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 $58,409.
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 $77,740. 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 ($53,370 to $102,450) 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 $51,882 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 $58,409 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.