5 Jobs That Pay More in California Than in Any Other State

If you have been California Dreamin’, you might have an additional reason to want to move to the state. Indeed, a new GOBankingRates study found that some jobs offer higher wages in California than in any other state in the country. In some instances, the increases are almost up to 50% — something that might entice a lot of people in these jobs to make the jump and move out West. 

In order to find these jobs, GOBankingRates used the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Occupational and Wage Estimates data to find the top 30 jobs in terms of employment and the top 30 jobs in terms of mean annual wage. Then GoBankingRates found the state that pays the most for each of those jobs.

Here are some jobs that may make you want to move to California.

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• National average: $163,310
• California average: $193,600 

That represents an 18.5% increase in salary for architectural and engineering managers in California. In the country, there are 197,180 architectural and engineering managers.

• National average: $205,770
• California average: $246,510

This is a 19.8% jump in salary from the national average. There are 46,540 nurse anesthetists in the country, according to the data.

• National average: $89,010
• California average: $133,340

This is the biggest raise, representing a whopping 49.8% increase in salary from the national average. The GOBankingRates survey shows that there are 3,072,700 registered nurses in the country, with 325,620 (about 11%) in California.

• National average: $132,930
• California average: $182,570

Software developers are also in luck in California, as their jobs pay 37.3% more on average. There are 258,170 software developers in California, about 17% of the 1.53 million total nationwide.

• National average: $68,000
• California average: $90,470

Teachers make more money in California: The average salary is 33% higher than in the rest of the country. There are 1.39 million elementary school teachers in the country, and 157,950 of them (11%) are in California.

Methodology: GOBankingRates used the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Occupational and Wage Estimates data to find the top 30 jobs in terms of employment and the top 30 jobs in terms of mean annual wage. Then GOBankingRates found the states that pay the most for each of those jobs. All data was collected on and is up to date as of June 16, 2023.

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