California vs Washington State

Put two roles head to head — any role, in any location or worldwide-remote.

Side A

Side B

California pays about 3% more at the median.

Side-by-side distribution

California Washington State
$155k
$150k
$42.9k box = 25th–75th · whiskers = 10th–90th $262.7k

California

$155,000

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▼ -11.4%
$175,000 $155,000
$100k 25th
$155k Median
$200k 75th
$60.3k
$247.5k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $5.3k – $5,000k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
73.7%
Live roles
13,966

Washington State

$150,000

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▼ -11.7%
$169,845 $150,000
$100k 25th
$150k Median
$193k 75th
$58.1k
$242.5k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $5k – $5,000k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
69.3%
Live roles
5,940

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Anduril Industries $170,000 1,236
Databricks $216,104 282
Relativity Space $165,000 232
NoGigiddy $43,680 200
Cheer Home Care $44,720 177
Revolution Medicines $209,500 169
Archer $171,100 153
ALO $79,588 144

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Anduril Industries $193,000 263
Accenture Federal Services $148,400 251
Esri $129,740 184
AX Axon $185,250 97
Databricks $214,700 94
Okta $214,000 86
NoGigiddy $43,680 70
Palantir $140,000 64

Highest-paying roles in California

Role Median Roles
DevOps $185,788 240
Software Engineer $185,750 2,515
Recruiter $181,025 1,012
Data Scientist $177,500 167
Product Manager $170,000 1,566
Customer Success $168,750 1,943
UX Designer $168,475 34
Sales $150,000 2,086
Project Manager $147,500 940
Marketing Manager $137,500 683

Highest-paying roles in Washington State

Role Median Roles
Data Scientist $180,000 44
Software Engineer $179,000 789
UX Designer $170,500 25
Product Manager $164,700 631
Customer Success $155,610 1,025
Recruiter $155,400 567
DevOps $151,800 192
Sales $150,000 1,068
Nurse $149,475 66
Project Manager $140,500 379

California vs Washington State: which pays more?

The median for California is $155,000 per year (typically $100,000–$200,000), versus $150,000 for Washington State ($100,000–$193,000). That puts California about 3% ahead at the median.

Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so California and Washington State are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.

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