The top 25 occupations in California ranked by 2026 median annual salary. Based on BLS data projected forward with California cost-of-living adjustment.
Ranked by median annual base salary. Click any role for full California-specific detail.
| Rank | Role | Median 2026 | 75th % | Top 10% (P90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | CEO (Mid-Market) Business & Management | $738,400 | $959,900 | $1,218,300 |
| #2 | Surgeon Healthcare | $586,500 | $762,500 | $967,800 |
| #3 | Chief Financial Officer Finance | $544,600 | $707,900 | $898,500 |
| #4 | Physician (MD/DO) Healthcare | $378,200 | $491,600 | $624,000 |
| #5 | AI Engineer Technology | $345,700 | $449,400 | $570,300 |
| #6 | Corporate Lawyer Legal | $345,500 | $449,100 | $570,000 |
| #7 | Investment Banker Finance | $313,300 | $407,300 | $517,000 |
| #8 | Machine Learning Engineer Technology | $298,200 | $387,600 | $492,000 |
| #9 | Dentist Healthcare | $277,800 | $361,200 | $458,400 |
| #10 | Senior Software Engineer Technology | $273,600 | $355,700 | $451,400 |
| #11 | Site Reliability Engineer Technology | $263,800 | $343,000 | $435,300 |
| #12 | Product Manager Technology | $247,500 | $321,800 | $408,400 |
| #13 | Data Scientist Technology | $241,000 | $313,300 | $397,700 |
| #14 | Lawyer / Attorney Legal | $241,000 | $313,300 | $397,600 |
| #15 | IT Manager Technology | $232,400 | $302,100 | $383,500 |
| #16 | Data Engineer Technology | $231,200 | $300,600 | $381,600 |
| #17 | Judge / Magistrate Legal | $228,000 | $296,300 | $376,100 |
| #18 | Cloud Engineer (AWS/Azure) Technology | $220,800 | $287,000 | $364,300 |
| #19 | Petroleum Engineer Engineering | $219,800 | $285,800 | $362,700 |
| #20 | Sales Engineer Sales | $219,800 | $285,800 | $362,700 |
| #21 | DevOps Engineer Technology | $217,500 | $282,700 | $358,800 |
| #22 | Marketing Manager Business & Management | $215,400 | $280,000 | $355,300 |
| #23 | Software Engineer Technology | $215,000 | $279,400 | $354,700 |
| #24 | Mobile Developer (iOS/Android) Technology | $215,000 | $279,400 | $354,700 |
| #25 | Controller Finance | $214,900 | $279,400 | $354,600 |
In California, the highest-paying job tracked is CEO (Mid-Market), with a median salary of $738,400 in 2026. The 90th percentile reaches $1,218,300.
Salaries are based on BLS OEWS data, projected forward to 2026 using category-specific wage growth and adjusted for California's cost-of-living index. The ranking shows median annual base pay (excluding bonuses, equity, and benefits).
Most of the top 25 highest-paying jobs in California typically require at least a bachelor's degree, and many require advanced degrees (medicine, law, engineering specializations). Trades roles are notable exceptions — they appear in some state rankings without requiring four-year degrees.