Chico, CA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Chico, CA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Chico, CA moved from $47,360 in May 2024 to $48,050 in May 2025 (+1.5%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Chico, CA sits -1.6 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Registered Nurses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Chico, CA
Registered Nurses publishes $127,360 here versus $97,550 nationally (+30.6%; 2,170metro-area jobs). Next is Fast Food and Counter Workers at $38,210 locally versus $31,200 nationally (+22.5%).
- Registered Nurses$127,360 in Chico, CA sits 30.6% above the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (2,170 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$38,210 in Chico, CA sits 22.5% above the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,630 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$35,210 in Chico, CA sits 7.1% above the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (2,090 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$34,320 in Chico, CA sits 4.1% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (5,940 published local jobs).
Registered Nurses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Chico, CA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 17020 · Chico, CA $64K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-MID · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-HIGH #123/528
- RPP-MID 101.2
- OCC-MID 286 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $335K
- EMP-MIX Registered N…
- TREND-INLINE -1.6 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Salinas, CA
- BOOK-MOST 283 rows · May 2025
Read with Salinas, CA (+$12 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Chico, CA
Employment scale inside Chico, CA's top-pay list
Registered Nurses and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Chico, CA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Registered Nurses 2,170 jobs · $127,360
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 400 jobs · $131,520
- 3. Financial Managers 260 jobs · $130,600
- 4. Managers, All Other 210 jobs · $136,090
- 5. Physical Therapists 180 jobs · $134,970
- 6. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 170 jobs · $139,600
- 7. Pharmacists 160 jobs · $161,410
- 8. Software Developers 150 jobs · $131,360
- 9. Nurse Practitioners 140 jobs · $167,080
- 10. Lawyers 140 jobs · $131,710
- 11. Chief Executives 130 jobs · $176,750
- 12. Physician Assistants 130 jobs · $164,780
- 13. Computer and Information Systems Managers 120 jobs · $137,890
- 14. Family Medicine Physicians 90 jobs · $274,800
- 15. Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 70 jobs · $155,470
- 16. Occupational Therapists 70 jobs · $129,260
- 17. Veterinarians 60 jobs · $160,180
- 18. Marketing Managers 60 jobs · $139,830
Occupations Tracked
286
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$63,598
employment-weighted, 283 complete rows
Top Salary
$334,980
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
101.2
1% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Chico, CA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $334,980 |
| 2 | Family Medicine Physicians | $274,800 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $176,750 |
| 4 | Nurse Practitioners | $167,080 |
| 5 | Physician Assistants | $164,780 |
| 6 | Dentists, General | $163,520 |
| 7 | Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary | $162,300 |
| 8 | Pharmacists | $161,410 |
| 9 | Veterinarians | $160,180 |
| 10 | Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | $155,470 |
| 11 | Optometrists | $139,890 |
| 12 | Marketing Managers | $139,830 |
| 13 | Human Resources Managers | $139,830 |
| 14 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $139,600 |
| 15 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $137,890 |
| 16 | Managers, All Other | $136,090 |
| 17 | Physical Therapists | $134,970 |
| 18 | Lawyers | $131,710 |
| 19 | Engineers, All Other | $131,660 |
| 20 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $131,520 |
| 21 | Software Developers | $131,360 |
| 22 | Financial Managers | $130,600 |
| 23 | Occupational Therapists | $129,260 |
| 24 | Registered Nurses | $127,360 |
| 25 | School Psychologists | $124,980 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Chico, CA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse | $34,320 |
| Gambling Dealers | $34,320 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $34,320 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $34,320 |
| Bartenders | $34,320 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $34,320 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $34,320 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $34,350 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $34,950 |
| Skincare Specialists | $35,090 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in CA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside CA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($63,598 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.