California vs Washington

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

Side A

Side B

California pays about 4% more at the median.

Side-by-side distribution

California Washington
$155k
$149.5k
$43.1k box = 25th–75th · whiskers = 10th–90th $262.6k

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
73.5%
Live roles
13,968

Washington

$149,500

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▼ -12%
$169,845 $149,500
$100k 25th
$149.5k Median
$193k 75th
$58.2k
$241.4k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $5k – $5,000k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
69.2%
Live roles
5,943

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Anduril Industries $170,000 1,236
Databricks $216,104 282
Relativity Space $165,000 231
NoGigiddy $43,680 200
Cheer Home Care $44,720 178
Revolution Medicines $209,500 165
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 87
NoGigiddy $43,680 70
Palantir $140,000 64

Highest-paying roles in California

Role Median Roles
DevOps $185,925 241
Software Engineer $185,700 2,510
Recruiter $180,500 1,005
Data Scientist $177,151 168
Product Manager $170,000 1,565
Customer Success $169,000 1,937
UX Designer $168,475 34
Sales $150,000 2,088
Project Manager $148,625 940
Marketing Manager $137,838 684

Highest-paying roles in Washington

Role Median Roles
Data Scientist $180,000 44
Software Engineer $178,250 782
UX Designer $170,500 25
Product Manager $165,000 628
Customer Success $156,000 1,027
Recruiter $153,600 568
DevOps $151,800 194
Sales $150,000 1,074
Nurse $149,475 66
Project Manager $140,000 374

California vs Washington: which pays more?

The median for California is $155,000 per year (typically $100,000–$200,000), versus $149,500 for Washington ($100,000–$193,000). That puts California about 4% ahead at the median.

Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so California and Washington 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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