Retail Salespersons in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,393
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$6,047
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,773
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
$38,440
Kept after tax
$32,393
Worth in national money
$28,773
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for retail salespersons is strong here. California's middle earner gets $38,440, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 8.56% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 472 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $38,440 the take-home is $32,393; in national-average money that behaves like $28,773. The average comes to $42,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For retail salespersons, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $38,440, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 8.56% 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.
- Retail salespersons occupies position 472 of 492 in California's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Take-home for retail salespersons in California, on $38,440, is $32,393; deflated by the state's price level, $28,773. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $42,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,310 |
| This salary | $38,440 |
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 | $32,393 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,067 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,255 |
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 | $37,602 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,355 |
| 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 retail salespersons in California earn under $38,440 and half over. The published range runs $35,240 at the tenth percentile to $54,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,393 take-home in California comes from $38,440. 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 472 of 492.
- Two cautions on $28,773, the adjusted value of that $38,440 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 472 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,240 to $54,310; 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.
- Retained pay of $32,393, from $38,440, 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 472 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 51 for it.
- This $28,773 adjusted figure, worked from $38,440, 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 472 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 472 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $42,950 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,240 at the tenth percentile, $54,310 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 $28,773 — 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 $32,393.
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 $42,950. 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 ($35,240 to $54,310) 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 $28,773 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 $32,393 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.