Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,690
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$25,210
25.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,567
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
$97,900
Kept after tax
$72,690
Worth in national money
$64,567
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays this job a middle wage of $97,900, ranking 15 of 49 states and sitting about 3.17% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 138.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $97,900 the take-home is $72,690; in national-average money that behaves like $64,567. The average comes to $103,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California's median for social scientists and related workers, all other is $97,900, about 3.17% above the national figure and 15 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In California's occupational distribution, social scientists and related workers, all other sits at 138 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.
- Take-home for social scientists and related workers, all other in California, on $97,900, is $72,690; deflated by the state's price level, $64,567. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $103,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $147,410 |
| This salary | $97,900 |
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 | $72,690 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,703 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,395 |
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 | $90,775 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,265 |
| 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 $97,900. The published range is $66,370 up to $147,410, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $72,690, worked from $97,900. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 138 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,567, the adjusted value of that $97,900 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 138 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for social scientists and related workers, all other in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $66,370 to $147,410. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The California take-home of $72,690, on $97,900 for work ranking 138 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 138 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $64,567 — the adjusted value of that $97,900 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 138 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 $103,820 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $66,370 at the bottom tenth to $147,410 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $64,567 — 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 $72,690.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $103,820. 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 ($66,370) and the ninetieth ($147,410) 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 $64,567 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 $72,690 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.