Transportation Security Screeners in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,798
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$15,812
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,339
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
$73,610
Kept after tax
$57,798
Worth in national money
$51,339
State rank
3
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $73,610, which ranks 3 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 10.24% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 237 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $73,610, tax leaves $57,798 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $51,339 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $68,660.
- California ranks 3 of 45 states publishing a median for transportation security screeners, at $73,610 — about 10.24% 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.
- Position 237 of 492 in California places transportation security screeners 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.
- After tax, $57,798 remains from the California median of $73,610 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $51,339 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $68,660 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,470 |
| This salary | $73,610 |
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 | $57,798 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,615 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,038 |
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 | $69,607 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,234 |
| 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 $73,610. The published range is $46,070 up to $81,470, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $57,798 take-home in California comes from $73,610. 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 237 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,339 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 237.
- Reported values are medians; for transportation security screeners in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,070 to $81,470. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $57,798, from $73,610, 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 237 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,339, worked from $73,610, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 237 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 $68,660, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,070 at the bottom tenth to $81,470 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $51,339 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $57,798 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $68,660. 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 ($46,070 to $81,470) 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 $51,339 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 $57,798 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.