State labor market
California labor market
Current statewide hiring activity plus occupation-level employment and pay for California. OEWS answers what occupations pay and how many workers BLS estimates are employed; the postings measures show more current statewide hiring activity.
Current statewide signal
California hiring snapshot
Indeed job-postings measures across all occupations in California.
Indeed job postings only. Postings are not a count of all vacancies or hires, Indeed does not cover the whole labor market, and this is statewide activity across all occupations, not an occupation health score. Each series is seasonally adjusted and indexed to its own February 1, 2020 level, so a higher index does not mean more jobs than another state. Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved Sep 26, 2026. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and differences.
Occupations & pay
Where California workers are employed
The eight largest occupations in our tracked OEWS catalog, by BLS estimated employment. These are estimated jobs held, not current openings or a count of unique people.
Home health and personal care aides
970,150estimated employmentLaborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand
355,500estimated employmentPay examples
Selected occupation pay examples
The same familiar occupations on every state page. Each U.S. figure uses the same measure (annual or hourly) as the California figure beside it.
- Registered nurses$140,270/yr California median annualU.S. $97,550/yr
- Software developers$174,410/yr California median annualU.S. $135,980/yr
- Electricians$76,160/yr California median annualU.S. $63,190/yr
- Accountants and auditors$97,050/yr California median annualU.S. $83,680/yr
- Elementary school teachers, except special education$99,650/yr California median annualU.S. $63,970/yr
- Marketing managers$193,620/yr California median annualU.S. $166,790/yr
Pay compared with the U.S.
How California occupation pay differs
Up to 5 occupations per side with at least 1,000 estimated California workers and published state and U.S. median annual wages, ordered by the largest percentage gap. Nominal wages, not adjusted for cost of living; not a demand or overall market ranking, and not a test of statistical significance.
Higher median than U.S.
- Insulation workers, mechanical$119,690/yr state median · 1,310 workers+105.2%vs. U.S. $58,340/yr
- Social sciences teachers, postsecondary, all other$132,920/yr state median · 2,760 workers+82.1%vs. U.S. $72,990/yr
- Communications teachers, postsecondary$135,000/yr state median · 3,140 workers+71.8%vs. U.S. $78,580/yr
- First-line supervisors of correctional officers$131,210/yr state median · 4,550 workers+68.3%vs. U.S. $77,970/yr
- Adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors$102,030/yr state median · 1,660 workers+65.8%vs. U.S. $61,540/yr
Lower median than U.S.
- Massage therapists$45,970/yr state median · 14,600 workers-21.4%vs. U.S. $58,450/yr
- Railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers$58,770/yr state median · 1,340 workers-14.6%vs. U.S. $68,840/yr
- Skincare specialists$38,770/yr state median · 11,360 workers-14.5%vs. U.S. $45,330/yr
- Engine and other machine assemblers$46,810/yr state median · 1,170 workers-12.8%vs. U.S. $53,710/yr
- Social workers, all other$63,010/yr state median · 6,430 workers-12.4%vs. U.S. $71,900/yr
Explore occupations
Occupation pay in California
Search every tracked OEWS occupation record for California. Links marked “California report” open a detailed state report; links marked “National report” open the U.S. occupation report because no California report is available.
737 occupations · showing 1–25
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), reference period May 2025; our data connection last checked Sep 23, 2026. OEWS covers wage and salary jobs and excludes the self-employed. “Top-coded” means BLS publishes only that the wage is at or above its reporting ceiling; “Not released” means BLS withheld the estimate. Missing values are never estimated. These occupation wages are separate from the QCEW industry trends on detailed occupation pages.