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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Average Urban And Regional Planners Salary in California

Urban And Regional Planners in California earn a median annual salary of $105,230, which is +25.7% compared to the national median. There are 7,630 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates for California (state).

$105,230
California median annual wage
$51/hour median
+25.7%
Difference vs national median
National median is $83,720
7,630
Local employment
0.4 jobs per 1,000 workers
1.51
Location quotient
Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally

Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th
$73,710
25th
$86,210
Median
$105,230
75th
$129,880
90th
$159,960

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in California, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity
110.7%
Exact state RPP match
Median wage adjusted to the national price level
$95,042
Goods: 106.1%
Services: 158.9%
Rents: 154.3%

Comparison links

Comparable states for this occupation

StateMedian annual wageCompareEmployment
District of Columbia$129,750Compare140
Washington$98,190Compare2,840
Colorado$96,810Compare1,260
Connecticut$94,960Compare380
New York$94,740Compare2,100
Oregon$92,400Compare1,100

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in California

OccupationMedian annual wageLQ
Chief Executives$220,6001.49
Computer And Information Systems Managers$211,3401.32
Natural Sciences Managers$204,1001.20
Architectural And Engineering Managers$201,8101.25
Physicians, All Other$201,5100.56
Lawyers$197,7901.06
Nurse Midwives$196,7000.91
Podiatrists$193,5100.83

California has salary data for 806 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Chief Executives.

Historical series

Trend for Urban And Regional Planners in California

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Urban And Regional Planners are projected to change by +3.4% from 2024 to 2034, with 3,400 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.