Database administrators job market in California

Name: Database administrators in California: occupation-weighted industry context
Creator: JobMarketHealth

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

California industry employment changed 0.8 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Database administrators in California.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitation Evidence record

Occupation pay

What Database administrators earn in California

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$113,060California

Middle 50% of published wages: $83,720 – $154,360
U.S. median annual wage: $104,620
Reference period: May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around California

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Database administrators, compared with the California median of $113,060.

California median$113,060

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$138,620+22.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$104,990 – $179,650Published employment580

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA$130,780+15.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$79,080 – $130,780Published employment60

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$127,760+13.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$92,810 – $163,940Published employment1,470

Vallejo, CA$125,600+11.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$101,320 – $137,180Published employment30

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA$124,040+9.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$81,300 – $161,680Published employment110

Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$120,500+6.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$83,720 – $147,890Published employment410

View 12 more published metro areas

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$112,540−0.5% vs. state

Middle 50%$83,340 – $154,670Published employment2,280

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$106,820−5.5% vs. state

Middle 50%$73,290 – $140,610Published employment730

Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA$104,880−7.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$89,320 – $143,720Published employment90

Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$104,340−7.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$71,130 – $136,350Published employment40

Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$102,510−9.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$82,790 – $134,240Published employment40

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA$99,870−11.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$74,450 – $129,960Published employment370

Modesto, CA$97,850−13.5% vs. state

Middle 50%$66,430 – $123,300Published employment40

Stockton-Lodi, CA$94,920−16.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$85,520 – $124,990Published employment60

Chico, CA$93,650−17.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$59,320 – $123,640Published employment30

Fresno, CA$90,860−19.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$64,340 – $121,740Published employment100

Bakersfield-Delano, CA$89,070−21.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$59,820 – $112,050Published employment90

Salinas, CA$83,970−25.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$64,480 – $128,570Published employment40

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the California median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in California’s weighted industry mix.

+1.0%Industry employmentCalifornia industry employmentU.S. +0.2%vs. +0.2% U.S.

+5.3%Establishments in weighted industriesCalifornia establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.9%vs. +2.9% U.S.

+2.2%Avg. weekly industry wageCalifornia avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +4.0% · not occupation payvs. +4.0% U.S. · not occupation pay

+0.8 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 1,335,586 represented establishments, 83.2% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for database administrators in California

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

Among 18 comparable metro estimates associated with California in OEWS May 2025, the pay leader and employment-size leader differ. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has the highest median annual pay at $138,620, with estimated employment of 580. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA has the largest employment estimate at 2,280, with median pay of $112,540. The pay leader's median is 23.2% higher; estimated employment describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution

Private education and health services supplies 61.1% of the positive weighted contributions to this occupation's industry employment-growth proxy in California in January to March 2026. Its own year-over-year employment change was +4.4%. Each leading industry group is weighted by its share of the occupation's national industry mix, and the groups examined cover 88.4% of that mix. These contributions do not count occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is above the U.S. median

Median annual pay in California stands 8.1% above the U.S. estimate for database administrators. The underlying OEWS May 2025 figures are $113,060 for the state and $104,620 nationally. This is a nominal wage comparison; living costs and individual pay differences are outside its scope.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

California industry employment over time

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values

California · 2026 Q1+1.0%
U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.2%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value

Quarterly California industry employment changes and coverage
Quarter	California	Coverage
2024 Q2	+0.6%	100%
2024 Q3	+1.1%	100%
2024 Q4	+1.3%	100%
2025 Q1	-0.4%	100%
2025 Q2	+0.2%	100%
2025 Q3	0.0%	100%
2025 Q4	+0.5%	100%
2026 Q1	+1.0%	100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows California’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters: 8
Earliest quarter: 2024 Q2
Latest quarter: 2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark: +0.2%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Database administrators Work

The occupation mix determines which California industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the California Database administrators context
Industry group	Occupation mix	Employment change	Establishments	Avg. weekly industry wage
Professional and business services	35.5%	+0.4%	259,522	$2,887
Private education and health services	17.1%	+4.4%	890,525	$1,277
Financial activities	13.2%	+0.8%	121,513	$3,795
State and local	9.1%	+1.6%	33,535	$1,827
Information	7.9%	+1.1%	30,491	$6,978
Other services	5.7%	+0.1%	110,116	$1,083

Which industries are growing?

4 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive California employment change are listed.

Private education and health services+4.4%
State and local+1.6%
Information+1.1%
Financial activities+0.8%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Selected state comparison

California vs. other states

A selected set of other states with valid reports for this occupation, not every available state. Each state’s own published industry employment change for QCEW 2026 Q1, ordered with this report first and then alphabetically. This is not a ranking and there is no state-level score.

Open state comparison

CaliforniaThis report+1.0%+0.8 pp vs. U.S.
Idaho+1.8%+1.6 pp vs. U.S.
Washington+0.3%+0.1 pp vs. U.S.

How to read this

Same occupation, same release

Every state shown published its own verified QCEW 2026 Q1 figure for the industries weighted to Database administrators. Bars are proportional to each published change; left of centre is a decline.

Current California context

Current California Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in California. They are not Database administrators demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · California

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

86.5Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026

-13.5%Versus the February 2020 baseline

0.0%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index

Indeed postings index
Observation date	Index (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026	85.61
Jul 31, 2026	85.81
Aug 7, 2026	85.07
Aug 14, 2026	85.18
Aug 21, 2026	85.00
Aug 28, 2026	84.96
Sep 4, 2026	85.33
Sep 11, 2026	86.03
Sep 18, 2026	86.72
Sep 25, 2026	86.52
Oct 2, 2026	86.28
Oct 9, 2026	86.26
Oct 16, 2026	86.29
Oct 23, 2026	86.51

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide WARN notices

California statewide

314 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 4, 2026 to Nov 1, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in California’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.

California Employment Development Department About WARN data

Source last checked 2026-11-01 02:04 UTC

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Database administrators in California FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Database administrators in California?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the California industries weighted to Database administrators changed +1.0% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.2% nationwide.

Are wages for Database administrators rising in California?

QCEW does not publish pay for Database administrators in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.2% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this California industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Database administrators openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation: Database administrators
SOC code: 15-1242
State: California
QCEW release label: QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period: 2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year: +1.0%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year: +0.2%
Difference from U.S. benchmark: +0.8 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year: +5.3%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year: +2.2%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage: EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date: Aug 28, 2026
Source verification: Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL: https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/database-administrators/california#evidence-record
Derived by: JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Methodology BLS QCEW How to cite QCEW state context release, 2026 Q1

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.