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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists Salary: Pennsylvania vs California

Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists earn a median of $65,800 in Pennsylvania and $87,940 in California. That is a nominal gap of $22,140 (-25.2%), with California paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$65,800
Pennsylvania median
$67,437 after COL
$87,940
California median
$79,426 after COL
-25.2%
Nominal gap
California leads
-15.1%
Adjusted gap
California leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, California pays $22,140 more per year than Pennsylvania for compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists, a gap of +25.2%.

After adjusting for cost of living, California still comes out ahead, with roughly $11,988 of extra purchasing power (+15.1% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists

Pennsylvania

Median salary
$65,800
Mean salary
$75,540
Employment
3,720
Location quotient
0.93
Jobs per 1,000
0.6
COL-adjusted median
$67,437
Regional Price Parity
97.6%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists page for Pennsylvania →

Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists

California

Median salary
$87,940
Mean salary
$98,410
Employment
13,640
Location quotient
1.14
Jobs per 1,000
0.8
COL-adjusted median
$79,426
Regional Price Parity
110.7%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists page for California →

Related pages

Keep digging into compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a state specializes in.