Tile and Stone Setters in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,765
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$11,115
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,427
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
$58,880
Kept after tax
$47,765
Worth in national money
$42,427
State rank
15
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for tile and stone setters. The middle earner takes $58,880, which ranks 15 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 5.73% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 306.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $58,880 the take-home is $47,765. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $42,427 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $63,800, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California ranks 15 of 47 states publishing a median for tile and stone setters, at $58,880 — about 5.73% 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.
- In California's occupational distribution, tile and stone setters sits at 306 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 $47,765 for tile and stone setters, from $58,880. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,427. ⚠️ 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 $63,800 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tile and Stone Setters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,830 |
| This salary | $58,880 |
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 | $47,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,490 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,502 |
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 | $56,733 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,282 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,880 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,990 and the ninetieth is $99,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $47,765, from $58,880, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 306 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,427, the adjusted value of that $58,880 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 306 of 492 in the state.
- The California median of $58,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,990 to $99,830. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $47,765 from $58,880. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 306 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $42,427 — the adjusted value of that $58,880 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 306 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 $63,800 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 $39,990 at the bottom tenth to $99,830 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $42,427 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 $47,765.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $63,800. 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 ($39,990) and the ninetieth ($99,830) 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 $42,427 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 $47,765 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.