Modesto, CA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Modesto, CA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Modesto, CA moved from $49,360 in May 2024 to $50,610 in May 2025 (+2.5%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Modesto, CA sits -0.6 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Modesto, CA
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education publishes $101,640 here versus $63,970 nationally (+58.9%; 2,450metro-area jobs). Next is Fast Food and Counter Workers at $42,630 locally versus $31,200 nationally (+36.6%).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$101,640 in Modesto, CA sits 58.9% above the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (2,450 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$42,630 in Modesto, CA sits 36.6% above the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (6,700 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$132,590 in Modesto, CA sits 35.9% above the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (4,850 published local jobs).
- Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary$47,990 in Modesto, CA sits 30.5% above the national Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary median of $36,780 (3,470 published local jobs).
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Modesto, CA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 33700 · Modesto, CA $66K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-MID · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-HIGH #83/528
- RPP-MID 104.1
- OCC-MID 398 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $324K
- EMP-MIX Medical and…
- TREND-INLINE -0.6 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Eastern Washingt…
- BOOK-FULL 396 rows · May 2025
Read with Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area ($2 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 Modesto, CA
Employment scale inside Modesto, CA's top-pay list
Medical and Health Services Managers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Modesto, CA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Medical and Health Services Managers 980 jobs · $138,950
- 2. Financial Managers 600 jobs · $160,180
- 3. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 460 jobs · $160,240
- 4. Nurse Practitioners 380 jobs · $173,380
- 5. Pharmacists 380 jobs · $160,520
- 6. Lawyers 370 jobs · $164,010
- 7. Physicians, All Other 310 jobs · $323,580
- 8. Chief Executives 230 jobs · $200,900
- 9. Computer and Information Systems Managers 230 jobs · $159,720
- 10. Physician Assistants 210 jobs · $165,730
- 11. Diagnostic Medical Sonographers 200 jobs · $141,210
- 12. Dentists, General 160 jobs · $167,050
- 13. Marketing Managers 160 jobs · $160,520
- 14. Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 160 jobs · $143,760
- 15. Human Resources Managers 150 jobs · $153,630
- 16. Veterinarians 120 jobs · $162,160
- 17. Family Medicine Physicians 100 jobs · $260,020
- 18. Architectural and Engineering Managers 90 jobs · $163,680
Occupations Tracked
398
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$66,333
employment-weighted, 396 complete rows
Top Salary
$323,580
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
104.1
4% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Modesto, CA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $323,580 |
| 2 | Family Medicine Physicians | $260,020 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $200,900 |
| 4 | Nurse Practitioners | $173,380 |
| 5 | Nuclear Medicine Technologists | $172,530 |
| 6 | Dentists, General | $167,050 |
| 7 | Physician Assistants | $165,730 |
| 8 | Lawyers | $164,010 |
| 9 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $163,680 |
| 10 | Veterinarians | $162,160 |
| 11 | Marketing Managers | $160,520 |
| 12 | Pharmacists | $160,520 |
| 13 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $160,240 |
| 14 | Financial Managers | $160,180 |
| 15 | Natural Sciences Managers | $160,070 |
| 16 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $159,720 |
| 17 | Human Resources Managers | $153,630 |
| 18 | Psychiatrists | $151,270 |
| 19 | Education Administrators, All Other | $150,500 |
| 20 | Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | $143,760 |
| 21 | Purchasing Managers | $142,970 |
| 22 | Training and Development Managers | $142,450 |
| 23 | Diagnostic Medical Sonographers | $141,210 |
| 24 | Commercial Pilots | $140,920 |
| 25 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $138,950 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Modesto, CA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $34,320 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $34,870 |
| Manicurists and Pedicurists | $34,890 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $34,910 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $35,030 |
| Bartenders | $35,100 |
| Parking Attendants | $35,180 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $35,440 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $35,760 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $35,960 |
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 ($66,333 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
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.