Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA moved from $50,240 in May 2024 to $51,690 in May 2025 (+2.9%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA sits -0.2 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education publishes $101,030 here versus $63,970 nationally (+57.9%; 2,170metro-area jobs). Next is Registered Nurses at $137,360 locally versus $97,550 nationally (+40.8%).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$101,030 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA sits 57.9% above the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (2,170 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$137,360 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA sits 40.8% above the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (3,280 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$42,940 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA sits 37.6% above the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (5,930 published local jobs).
- Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary$46,540 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA sits 26.5% above the national Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary median of $36,780 (2,360 published local jobs).
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 42200 · Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA $71K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-ELEV · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #36/528
- RPP-ELEV 108.8
- OCC-MOST 433 occs
- TOP-LEAD Psychiatrists · $333K
- EMP-MIX Software Dev…
- TREND-INLINE -0.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Albany-Schenecta…
- BOOK-FULL 428 rows · May 2025
Read with Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY ($82 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 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara
Employment scale inside Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA's top-pay list
Software Developers and Managers, All Other lead published employment inside Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Software Developers 1,680 jobs · $158,290
- 2. Managers, All Other 900 jobs · $167,090
- 3. Financial Managers 760 jobs · $164,270
- 4. Computer and Information Systems Managers 700 jobs · $207,760
- 5. Lawyers 700 jobs · $170,970
- 6. Family Medicine Physicians 440 jobs · $287,230
- 7. Chief Executives 360 jobs · $195,650
- 8. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 360 jobs · $159,950
- 9. Architectural and Engineering Managers 340 jobs · $207,900
- 10. Marketing Managers 340 jobs · $170,920
- 11. Pharmacists 290 jobs · $162,520
- 12. Physicians, All Other 280 jobs · $296,960
- 13. Human Resources Managers 210 jobs · $165,160
- 14. Physician Assistants 210 jobs · $158,360
- 15. Nurse Practitioners 200 jobs · $165,580
- 16. Education Administrators, Postsecondary 150 jobs · $153,950
- 17. Dentists, General 140 jobs · $170,940
- 18. Veterinarians 140 jobs · $158,840
Occupations Tracked
433
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$71,238
employment-weighted, 428 complete rows
Top Salary
$333,300
Psychiatrists
Cost of Living
108.8
9% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychiatrists | $333,300 |
| 2 | Physicians, All Other | $296,960 |
| 3 | Family Medicine Physicians | $287,230 |
| 4 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $207,900 |
| 5 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $207,760 |
| 6 | Economics Teachers, Postsecondary | $202,030 |
| 7 | Chief Executives | $195,650 |
| 8 | Natural Sciences Managers | $175,400 |
| 9 | Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary | $173,640 |
| 10 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $171,880 |
| 11 | Lawyers | $170,970 |
| 12 | Dentists, General | $170,940 |
| 13 | Marketing Managers | $170,920 |
| 14 | Managers, All Other | $167,090 |
| 15 | Nurse Practitioners | $165,580 |
| 16 | Human Resources Managers | $165,160 |
| 17 | Financial Managers | $164,270 |
| 18 | Pharmacists | $162,520 |
| 19 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $161,440 |
| 20 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $159,950 |
| 21 | Database Architects | $159,240 |
| 22 | Veterinarians | $158,840 |
| 23 | Physician Assistants | $158,360 |
| 24 | Software Developers | $158,290 |
| 25 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $153,950 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $34,320 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $35,110 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $35,130 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $35,210 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $35,260 |
| Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products | $35,420 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $35,620 |
| Material Moving Workers, All Other | $35,780 |
| Bartenders | $35,810 |
| Baggage Porters and Bellhops | $35,820 |
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 ($71,238 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
What is the average salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA? ▼
Which published medians lead Santa Maria-Santa Barbara? ▼
What is the cost of living in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Santa Maria-Santa Barbara come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA wage figures in a real decision
- Psychiatrists leads published medians in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA at $333,300/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Psychiatrists
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $71,238 adjusts to about $65,477 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 108.8. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for CA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
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.