Nearly half of California’s workforce is employed in occupations where six-figure pay is common, underscoring the growth of California six-figure jobs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analyzed by the Los Angeles Daily News. The findings reflect how high-earning roles concentrate in professional, technical, and management fields as wages rise alongside the state’s cost of living.
As of May 2024, management occupations led the state’s pay scale, with 1.34 million workers averaging $138,900 a year—more than double the statewide median of $56,900 across 18.1 million California employees. Technical and specialized fields also reported six-figure averages: computer and mathematical roles at $136,000, legal professions at $129,300, healthcare and medical technology at $120,000, and architecture and engineering at $119,500.
Looking at the top 25 percent of earners within each field, several additional sectors topped six figures. Finance and business averaged $128,600 in the upper quartile; life, physical, and social sciences averaged $131,300; arts, sports, and media averaged $110,800; and education and library roles reached $101,300. For comparison, the statewide average for the top quartile across all industries was $96,300.
High earners are even more widespread when focusing on the top 10 percent of each sector. Protective services averaged $129,400 among top decile workers; construction and mining averaged $124,900; social services averaged $122,000; installation, maintenance, and repair reached $105,800; and sales averaged $105,600. These sector figures are about 33% lower than the statewide top-10 percent salary of $157,200, indicating that while many sectors include six-figure earners, the very highest statewide threshold sits substantially above most field-specific top deciles.
Altogether, approximately 9.8 million California workers—about half the workforce—are employed in 14 occupations where six-figure salaries are common. Roughly 19% (3.5 million workers) are in occupations where six-figure pay is the norm; 35% (6.3 million) work in roles where the top quartile earns more than $100,000; and 54% (9.8 million) are in fields where the top 10 percent surpass that mark. These patterns illustrate the breadth of California six-figure jobs across management, technology, and other specialized tracks.
Experts say the distribution of high-paying roles continues to expand in management, technical, and professional occupations despite elevated living and housing costs. They add that these data can help younger workers identify career paths with long-term earning potential, reinforcing how California six-figure jobs are shaping the state’s labor market.
BY HOONSIK WOO [woo.hoonsik@koreadaily.com]
