Average Psychiatric Aides Salary in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA

BLS tracks 160 psychiatric aides in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA but does not publish a wage estimate for this occupation in this location. Below you'll find national context and peer states with reported wages.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA (metro area).

No annual salary published for this location. BLS does not publish an annual wage estimate for psychiatric aides in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA. This is common for occupations where most work is project-based, hourly, or on irregular schedules (actors, athletes, musicians, dancers). No wage figures were published at all for this location in the latest release.

Local employment

Workers tracked locally: 160
How common this job is here: 7.13×; More concentrated here than nationally — this metro area is unusually strong in this occupation.

Where psychiatric aides earn the most per hour

Locations where BLS did publish hourly wage data for psychiatric aides this release, ranked highest to lowest.

By hourly wage

Top-paying states

Minnesota: $26.46/hr
Washington: $25.27/hr
Hawaii: $25.15/hr
Maryland: $24.73/hr
Nevada: $24.71/hr
Rhode Island: $24.57/hr
New York: $24.14/hr
Alaska: $23.70/hr

By hourly wage

Top-paying metros

Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY: $36.38/hr
Trenton-Princeton, NJ: $28.90/hr
Utica-Rome, NY: $28.17/hr
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA: $28.15/hr
Waterbury-Shelton, CT: $27.58/hr
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI: $26.49/hr
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV: $25.73/hr
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA: $25.27/hr

National job outlook

BLS publishes national employment projections for psychiatric aides from 2024 to 2034. These projections are national and not broken down by state.

Projected growth: -0.4%; -100 net jobs over the projection period
Annual openings: 5,300; Includes growth plus replacements
Typical entry education: High school diploma or equivalent

Related occupations

Other jobs in the same field. Many of these follow similar hourly or project-based pay patterns.