Project Management Specialists in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$86,738
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$34,172
28.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,045
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
$120,910
Kept after tax
$86,738
Worth in national money
$77,045
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for project management specialists. The middle earner takes $120,910, which ranks 5 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 18.17% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations California reports, project management specialists comes in at 90 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $120,910, tax leaves $86,738 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $77,045 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $124,430, since top earners drag the number up.
- California ranks 5 of 51 states publishing a median for project management specialists, at $120,910 — about 18.17% 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.
- Project management specialists ranks 90 of 492 occupations by median in California, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After tax, $86,738 remains from the California median of $120,910 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $77,045 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $124,430 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Project Management Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $120,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $188,560 |
| This salary | $120,910 |
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 | $86,738 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $93,890 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$19,575 |
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 | $110,743 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$27,039 |
| 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 project management specialists in California earn under $120,910 and half over. The published range runs $69,180 at the tenth percentile to $188,560 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $86,738, from $120,910, 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 90 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 $77,045, the adjusted value of that $120,910 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 90 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for project management specialists in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $69,180 to $188,560; 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 $86,738 from $120,910. 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 90 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $77,045 — the adjusted value of that $120,910 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 90 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $69,180, the highest tenth $188,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $77,045 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 $86,738.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($69,180) and the ninetieth ($188,560) 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 $77,045 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 $86,738 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.