Social and Community Service Managers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,722
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$19,488
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,601
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
$83,210
Kept after tax
$63,722
Worth in national money
$56,601
State rank
15
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 $83,210, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.51% above the national middle.
- Against other work in California, this sits in the middle: 174 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $83,210 the take-home is $63,722. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $56,601 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $95,910, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for social and community service managers, at $83,210 — about 3.51% 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.
- Social and community service managers ranks 174 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $63,722 for social and community service managers, from $83,210. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,601. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $95,910 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social and Community Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,280 |
| This salary | $83,210 |
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 | $63,722 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,368 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,726 |
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 | $78,027 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,470 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $83,210. The published range is $56,510 up to $149,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $63,722 take-home in California comes from $83,210. 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 174 of 492.
- Two cautions on $56,601, the adjusted value of that $83,210 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 174 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for social and community service managers in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $56,510 to $149,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $63,722, from $83,210, 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 174 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- This $56,601 adjusted figure, worked from $83,210, 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 174 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 174 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 $95,910, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $56,510 and the top tenth $149,280 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $56,601 — 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 $63,722 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.
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 $95,910. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($56,510) and the ninetieth ($149,280) 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 $56,601 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 $63,722 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.