Salinas, CA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Salinas, CA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Salinas, CA moved from $46,790 in May 2024 to $47,380 in May 2025 (+1.3%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Salinas, CA sits -1.8 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Teachers and Instructors, All Other shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Salinas, CA
Teachers and Instructors, All Other publishes $113,360 here versus $66,140 nationally (+71.4%; 2,170metro-area jobs). Next is Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education at $100,220 locally versus $63,970 nationally (+56.7%).
- Teachers and Instructors, All Other$113,360 in Salinas, CA sits 71.4% above the national Teachers and Instructors, All Other median of $66,140 (2,170 published local jobs).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$100,220 in Salinas, CA sits 56.7% above the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (2,280 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$43,260 in Salinas, CA sits 38.7% above the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (4,180 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$134,910 in Salinas, CA sits 38.3% above the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (3,180 published local jobs).
Teachers and Instructors, All Other and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Salinas, CA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 41500 · Salinas, CA $64K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-ELEV · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-HIGH #122/528
- RPP-ELEV 109.0
- OCC-MID 369 occs
- TOP-LEAD Family Medicin… · $410K
- EMP-MIX Registered N…
- TREND-INLINE -1.8 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Connecticut nonm…
- BOOK-FULL 367 rows · May 2025
Read with Connecticut 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 Salinas, CA
Employment scale inside Salinas, CA's top-pay list
Registered Nurses and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Salinas, CA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Registered Nurses 3,180 jobs · $134,910
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 510 jobs · $140,610
- 3. Financial Managers 450 jobs · $153,370
- 4. Lawyers 380 jobs · $166,940
- 5. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 350 jobs · $161,590
- 6. Family Medicine Physicians 320 jobs · $410,370
- 7. Software Developers 290 jobs · $135,160
- 8. Pharmacists 260 jobs · $166,470
- 9. Physicians, All Other 250 jobs · $384,990
- 10. Chief Executives 220 jobs · $226,270
- 11. Computer and Information Systems Managers 200 jobs · $167,160
- 12. Dentists, General 170 jobs · $185,040
- 13. First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 150 jobs · $153,930
- 14. Human Resources Managers 150 jobs · $150,390
- 15. Nurse Practitioners 140 jobs · $166,090
- 16. Physician Assistants 130 jobs · $170,180
- 17. Marketing Managers 130 jobs · $155,940
- 18. Veterinarians 120 jobs · $163,080
Occupations Tracked
369
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$63,610
employment-weighted, 367 complete rows
Top Salary
$410,370
Family Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
109.0
9% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Salinas, CA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Family Medicine Physicians | $410,370 |
| 2 | Physicians, All Other | $384,990 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $226,270 |
| 4 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $187,730 |
| 5 | Dentists, General | $185,040 |
| 6 | Psychiatrists | $178,630 |
| 7 | Natural Sciences Managers | $171,290 |
| 8 | Physician Assistants | $170,180 |
| 9 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $167,160 |
| 10 | Lawyers | $166,940 |
| 11 | Pharmacists | $166,470 |
| 12 | Nurse Practitioners | $166,090 |
| 13 | Veterinarians | $163,080 |
| 14 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $161,590 |
| 15 | Purchasing Managers | $158,550 |
| 16 | Marketing Managers | $155,940 |
| 17 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $153,930 |
| 18 | Financial Managers | $153,370 |
| 19 | Human Resources Managers | $150,390 |
| 20 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $140,610 |
| 21 | Fundraising Managers | $139,240 |
| 22 | Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | $138,590 |
| 23 | Software Developers | $135,160 |
| 24 | Registered Nurses | $134,910 |
| 25 | Optometrists | $133,350 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Salinas, CA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $34,320 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $34,620 |
| Packers and Packagers, Hand | $35,480 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $35,540 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $35,600 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $36,290 |
| Rehabilitation Counselors | $36,310 |
| Bartenders | $36,350 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $36,380 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $36,390 |
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 ($63,610 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.