Median pay · California
$86,480A year, or $42 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $56,730 | $27 |
| 25th percentile | $75,530 | $36 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $86,480 | $42 |
| 75th percentile | $127,870 | $61 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $193,080 | $93 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $106,560 | $51 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in CaliforniaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$86,480
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$41.58
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$5,489 a month at an effective rate of 23.8%.$65,871 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in California sit at 110.7 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$78,107
- Against the national medianThe national median is $76,910.12.4% above
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.49 against the nation's 1.00.8,390
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 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $86,480 in California, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
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 $86,480 is worth in California
Prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national average of 100, so $86,480 earned here buys what $78,107 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 0.87 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 49% more concentrated in California than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for writers and authors in California
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.
The gap between the ends is wide: the 90th percentile ($193,080) is 3.4 times the 10th ($56,730). The survey does not say who sits where in that range. It records no experience, shift or employer.
Prices in California index at 110.7 (U.S. = 100), so the $86,480 median buys roughly what $78,107 would at national prices, $8,373 less.
The average here is $106,560, well above the median of $86,480. A smaller group of high earners lifts the average, so the median is the better guide to what most writers and authors in California are paid.
Common questions
Writers and Authors pay in California, answered
How much do writers and authors make in California?
The median wage for writers and authors in California is $86,480 a year, or $41.58 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 Writers and Authors salary in California?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for writers and authors in California is $106,560 a year. The median is $86,480.
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 writers and authors in California?
The median hourly wage is $41.58. At a full-time year that lines up with about $86,480 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for writers and authors 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 writers and authors earn under $56,730 a year and a quarter earn under $75,530 ($27.27 and $36.31 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 writers and authors in California?
The overall salary range for writers and authors in California spans from $56,730 for the bottom 10% to $193,080 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $75,530 and $127,870 a year, with the overall median at $86,480.
What is the take-home pay for writers and authors in California?
On the median wage of $86,480, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $65,871 a year, or roughly $5,489 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 23.8%.
California takes $3,798 of it in state income tax.
How much does writers and authors make a month in California?
On the median annual salary of $86,480, estimated take-home pay is roughly $5,489 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 $2,534 net.
Do writers and authors earn more in California than in the rest of the country?
Yes. The median in California is 12.4% above the national median of $76,910.
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 $86,480 a good salary in California?
It is 0.87 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 $86,480 here buys about what $78,107 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid writers and authors earn in California?
The top tenth earn $193,080 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $56,730.
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 writers and authors are there in California?
The survey counted 8,390 of these jobs in California for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 49% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.