Social and Human Service Assistants in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,973
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$9,117
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,282
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
$51,090
Kept after tax
$41,973
Worth in national money
$37,282
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $51,090, putting the state 4 of 51 — about 11.23% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 358.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $51,090 the take-home is $41,973. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,282 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $55,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For social and human service assistants, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $51,090, ranking 4 of 51 and running about 11.23% 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, social and human service assistants sits at 358 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $41,973 for social and human service assistants, from $51,090. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,282. ⚠️ 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 $55,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,250 |
| This salary | $51,090 |
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 | $41,973 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,231 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,205 |
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 | $49,524 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,714 |
| 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 social and human service assistants in California earn under $51,090 and half over. The published range runs $39,040 at the tenth percentile to $74,250 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $41,973 take-home in California comes from $51,090. 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 358 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,282, the adjusted value of that $51,090 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 358 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for social and human service assistants in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,040 to $74,250; 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 $41,973, from $51,090, 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 358 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $37,282 — the adjusted value of that $51,090 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 358 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 $55,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,040 and the top tenth $74,250, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $37,282 rather than its face figure.
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 $41,973 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $55,100. 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 ($39,040 to $74,250) 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 $37,282 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 $41,973 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.