Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,200
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$12,690
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,367
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
$64,890
Kept after tax
$52,200
Worth in national money
$46,367
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $64,890, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 30.59% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 262 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $64,890 the take-home is $52,200; in national-average money that behaves like $46,367. The average comes to $66,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for refuse and recyclable material collectors, at $64,890 — about 30.59% 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.
- Position 262 of 492 in California places refuse and recyclable material collectors in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for refuse and recyclable material collectors in California, on $64,890, is $52,200; deflated by the state's price level, $46,367. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $66,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,370 |
| This salary | $64,890 |
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 | $52,200 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,531 |
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 | $62,253 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,527 |
| 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 refuse and recyclable material collectors in California earn under $64,890 and half over. The published range runs $45,970 at the tenth percentile to $90,370 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $52,200, from $64,890, 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 262 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $46,367 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 262.
- Figures are distribution medians for refuse and recyclable material collectors in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,970 to $90,370; 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 $52,200 from $64,890. 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 262 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $46,367, worked from $64,890, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 262 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,970 and the top tenth $90,370, 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 $46,367 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $52,200 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,970 to $90,370) 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 $46,367 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 $52,200 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.