Social Workers, All Other in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,835
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$12,175
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,155
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
$63,010
Kept after tax
$50,835
Worth in national money
$45,155
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. California pays social workers, all other a middle wage of $63,010, 38 of 50 states and about 12.36% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Social workers, all other ranks 273 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $63,010 the take-home is $50,835; in national-average money that behaves like $45,155. The average comes to $75,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California's $63,010 median for social workers, all other places it 38 of 50 states, about 12.36% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 273 of 492 in California places social workers, all other 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 social workers, all other in California, on $63,010, is $50,835; deflated by the state's price level, $45,155. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $75,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,480 |
| This salary | $63,010 |
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 | $50,835 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,809 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,189 |
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 | $60,554 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,113 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,010 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,160 and the ninetieth is $132,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $50,835 take-home in California comes from $63,010. 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 273 of 492.
- Two cautions on $45,155, the adjusted value of that $63,010 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 273 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $63,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,160 to $132,480. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $50,835, from $63,010, 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 273 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 50 for it.
- This $45,155 adjusted figure, worked from $63,010, 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 273 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 273 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $75,300, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $36,160 and the top tenth $132,480 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $45,155 rather than its face figure.
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 $50,835.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $75,300. 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 ($36,160) and the ninetieth ($132,480) 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 $45,155 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 $50,835 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.