Veterinary Technologists and Technicians in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,066
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$11,564
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,583
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
$60,630
Kept after tax
$49,066
Worth in national money
$43,583
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,630, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 27.97% above the national middle.
- Against other work in California, this sits in the middle: 292 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $60,630 the take-home is $49,066; in national-average money that behaves like $43,583. The average comes to $61,400, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for veterinary technologists and technicians, at $60,630 — about 27.97% 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.
- Veterinary technologists and technicians ranks 292 of 492 occupations in California by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Take-home for veterinary technologists and technicians in California, on $60,630, is $49,066; deflated by the state's price level, $43,583. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $61,400 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,860 |
| This salary | $60,630 |
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 | $49,066 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,896 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,793 |
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 | $58,352 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,634 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,630 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,240 and the ninetieth is $75,860 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $49,066, worked from $60,630. 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 292 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,583, the adjusted value of that $60,630 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 292 of 492 in the state.
- The California median of $60,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,240 to $75,860. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The California take-home of $49,066, on $60,630 for work ranking 292 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 292 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $43,583 — the adjusted value of that $60,630 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 292 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $48,240 at the tenth percentile, $75,860 at the ninetieth.
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 $43,583 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 $49,066.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,240 to $75,860) 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 $43,583 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 $49,066 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.