California · BLS May 2025

How much do human resources assistants make in California?

BLS records this occupation as Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping” (SOC 43-4161).

Human resources assistants in California earn a median of $57,590 a year ($27.69 an hour), about $3,913 a month after federal, state and FICA tax. Figure from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. The survey counted 11,490 of these jobs in California in May 2025.

Median pay · California

$57,590A year, or $28 an hour.
Take-home a month$3,913After federal, state and FICA tax at 18.5%
Worth at national prices$52,014Prices here sit at 110.7 against 100
Against the nation13.8% aboveNational median $50,610
What human resources assistants earn in California, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentile1 in 10 earn less$41,300$20
25th percentile$48,470$23
MedianHalf earn more, half less$57,590$28
75th percentile$65,560$32
90th percentile1 in 10 earn more$78,370$38
MeanAll pay divided by all jobs$58,630$28

Wage survey · BLS May 2025

How we got this
  1. Median wage in CaliforniaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$57,590
  2. Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$27.69
  3. Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$3,913 a month at an effective rate of 18.5%.$46,959 a year
  4. Worth at national average pricesPrices in California sit at 110.7 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$52,014
  5. Against the national medianThe national median is $50,610.13.8% above
  6. Jobs countedA concentration of 1.09 against the nation's 1.00.11,490
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

Tax year 2026 · Interactive

Estimated on the median salary of $57,590 in California, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.

$57,590
$40,000$80,000
Filing status:
Gross salary breakdown$57,590
Net 82%
Fed 8%
CA 3%
FICA 8%
Annual take-home$46,959After all taxes
Monthly deposit$3,913Estimated per month
Biweekly paycheck$1,806Every 2 weeks (26/yr)
Effective tax rate18.5%Total tax burden
Federal income tax$4,731 / yr
California state income tax$1,495 / yr
FICA (Social Security & Medicare)$4,406 / yr

Run the numbers on your own pay

Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.

What $57,590 is worth in California

Prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national average of 100, so $57,590 earned here buys what $52,014 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 154.3 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in California takes in $99,122, so this occupation's median is 0.58 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 9% more concentrated in California than in the country as a whole.

Compare two places properly →

Reading the numbers

What stands out for human resources assistants in California

California ranks 2 of 51 states by median pay for human resources assistants, among the best-paying in the country.

Rents in California index at 154.3 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 110.7, a gap of +43.6 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.

Prices in California index at 110.7 (U.S. = 100), so the $57,590 median buys roughly what $52,014 would at national prices, $5,576 less.

The median for this job is 0.6 times the median household income in California ($99,122). Many households have two earners, so one paycheck at this level falls short of what a typical local household brings in.

Common questions

Human Resources Assistants pay in California, answered

How much do human resources assistants make in California?

The median wage for human resources assistants in California is $57,590 a year, or $27.69 an hour.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the average Human Resources Assistants salary in California?

BLS’s mean (average) wage for human resources assistants in California is $58,630 a year. The median is $57,590.

The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.

What is the hourly pay for human resources assistants in California?

The median hourly wage is $27.69. At a full-time year that lines up with about $57,590 a year.

BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.

What is the starting salary for human resources assistants in California?

BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in California, the lowest-paid 10% of human resources assistants earn under $41,300 a year and a quarter earn under $48,470 ($19.86 and $23.31 an hour).

New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.

What is the salary range for human resources assistants in California?

The overall salary range for human resources assistants in California spans from $41,300 for the bottom 10% to $78,370 for top earners.

The middle 50% earn between $48,470 and $65,560 a year, with the overall median at $57,590.

What is the take-home pay for human resources assistants in California?

On the median wage of $57,590, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $46,959 a year, or roughly $3,913 a month.

That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 18.5%.

California takes $1,495 of it in state income tax.

How much does human resources assistants make a month in California?

On the median annual salary of $57,590, estimated take-home pay is roughly $3,913 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.

For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $1,806 net.

Do human resources assistants earn more in California than in the rest of the country?

Yes. The median in California is 13.8% above the national median of $50,610.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $57,590 a good salary in California?

It is 0.58 times the median household income of $99,122. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in California run at 110.7 against a national average of 100, with rents at 154.3, so $57,590 here buys about what $52,014 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid human resources assistants earn in California?

The top tenth earn $78,370 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $41,300.

Experience, specialty, employer and the part of California someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many human resources assistants are there in California?

The survey counted 11,490 of these jobs in California for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 9% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from

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