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California General Schedule Payscales

14,035 federal employees †

$79,320 average yearly pay

+4% salary raise this year

Federal employees in California are paid an adjusted base salary based on which of the five General Schedule localities that cover California in which they work. Localities that cover parts of California include Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Rest of U.S..

This table lists all of the major cities and military installations within California where Federal employees work. Each city lists the GS Locality in which it is located, and the current Locality Adjustment applicable to that locality. Click on any city or locality to see the adjusted pay tables for that region.

City / Base	Locality Type	Federal Employee Count †	GS Locality Name	Locality Adjustment
Integrated Support Command Alameda	Coast Guard	398	San Francisco	44.15%
Anaheim	Civilian	83	Los Angeles	34.89%
Antioch	Civilian	33	San Francisco	44.15%
Bakersfield	Civilian	225	Los Angeles	34.89%
Fort Irwin	Army	49	Los Angeles	34.89%
Berkeley	Civilian	52	San Francisco	44.15%
Burbank	Civilian	18	Los Angeles	34.89%
Carlsbad	Civilian	67	San Diego	32.01%
Chula Vista	Civilian	91	San Diego	32.01%
Clovis	Civilian	106	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
Military Ocean terminal Concord	Navy	26	San Francisco	44.15%
Corona	Civilian	123	Los Angeles	34.89%
Naval Amphibious Base Coronado	Navy	5	San Diego	32.01%
Costa Mesa	Civilian	7	Los Angeles	34.89%
Daly City	Civilian	25	San Francisco	44.15%
Downey	Civilian	25	Los Angeles	34.89%
Parks Reserve Forces Training Area	Army	48	San Francisco	44.15%
El Cajon	Civilian	63	San Diego	32.01%
Naval Air Facility El Centro	Navy	89	Los Angeles	34.89%
El Monte	Civilian	109	Los Angeles	34.89%
Los Angeles Air Force Base	Air Force	63	Los Angeles	34.89%
Elk Grove	Civilian	30	Sacramento	28.3%
Escondido	Civilian	16	San Diego	32.01%
Travis Air Force Base	Air Force	128	San Francisco	44.15%
Fontana	Civilian	59	Los Angeles	34.89%
Fremont	Civilian	70	San Francisco	44.15%
Fresno	Civilian	4,866	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
Fullerton	Civilian	10	Los Angeles	34.89%
Garden Grove	Civilian	47	Los Angeles	34.89%
Glendale	Civilian	115	Los Angeles	34.89%
Hayward	Civilian	44	San Francisco	44.15%
Huntington Beach	Civilian	20	Los Angeles	34.89%
Inglewood	Civilian	38	Los Angeles	34.89%
Irvine	Civilian	277	Los Angeles	34.89%
Lancaster	Civilian	103	Los Angeles	34.89%
Naval Air Station Lemoore	Navy	Unknown	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
Loma Linda	Civilian	1,496	Los Angeles	34.89%
Vandenberg Air Force Base	Air Force	112	Los Angeles	34.89%
Long Beach	Civilian	1,888	Los Angeles	34.89%
Joint Forces Training Base	Joint Military	7	Los Angeles	34.89%
Los Angeles	Civilian	5,499	Los Angeles	34.89%
Beale Air Force Base	Air Force	1	Sacramento	28.3%
Menlo Park	Civilian	1,016	San Francisco	44.15%
Modesto	Civilian	151	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
Presidio of Monterey	Army	86	San Francisco	44.15%
Moreno Valley	Civilian	123	Los Angeles	34.89%
Murrieta	Civilian	12	Los Angeles	34.89%
Norwalk	Civilian	36	Los Angeles	34.89%
Oakland	Civilian	1,636	San Francisco	44.15%
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton	Marines	47	San Diego	32.01%
Ontario	Civilian	112	Los Angeles	34.89%
Orange	Civilian	81	Los Angeles	34.89%
Naval Air Station Point Mugu	Navy	60	Los Angeles	34.89%
Palmdale	Civilian	10	Los Angeles	34.89%
Palo Alto	Civilian	1,505	San Francisco	44.15%
Pasadena	Civilian	155	Los Angeles	34.89%
Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma	Coast Guard	83	San Francisco	44.15%
Pomona	Civilian	37	Los Angeles	34.89%
Naval Base Ventura County	Navy	1	Los Angeles	34.89%
Rancho Cucamonga	Civilian	5	Los Angeles	34.89%
Rialto	Civilian	5	Los Angeles	34.89%
Richmond	Civilian	1,233	San Francisco	44.15%
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake	Navy	16	Los Angeles	34.89%
Camp Haan	Army	290	Los Angeles	34.89%
Roseville	Civilian	73	Sacramento	28.3%
Sacramento	Civilian	2,149	Sacramento	28.3%
Salinas	Civilian	451	San Francisco	44.15%
San Bernardino	Civilian	367	Los Angeles	34.89%
San Buenaventura (Ventura)	Civilian	Unknown	Los Angeles	34.89%
Naval Base Point Loma	Navy	3,246	San Diego	32.01%
San Francisco	Civilian	5,216	San Francisco	44.15%
San Joaquin Depot	Joint Military	Unknown	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
San Jose	Civilian	438	San Francisco	44.15%
Camp San Luis Obispo	Army	31	Los Angeles	34.89%
San Mateo	Civilian	41	San Francisco	44.15%
Santa Ana	Civilian	359	Los Angeles	34.89%
Santa Clara	Civilian	8	San Francisco	44.15%
Santa Clarita	Civilian	29	Los Angeles	34.89%
Santa Maria	Civilian	140	Los Angeles	34.89%
Santa Rosa	Civilian	141	San Francisco	44.15%
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach	Navy	2	Los Angeles	34.89%
Simi Valley	Civilian	44	Los Angeles	34.89%
Stockton	Civilian	229	San Francisco	44.15%
Sunnyvale	Civilian	10	San Francisco	44.15%
Temecula	Civilian	17	Los Angeles	34.89%
Thousand Oaks	Civilian	100	Los Angeles	34.89%
Torrance	Civilian	61	Los Angeles	34.89%
Twentynine Palms	Marines	69	Los Angeles	34.89%
Vallejo	Civilian	252	San Francisco	44.15%
Victorville	Civilian	175	Los Angeles	34.89%
Visalia	Civilian	147	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
West Covina	Civilian	66	Los Angeles	34.89%
Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range	Navy	Unknown	Los Angeles	34.89%
Edwards Air Force Base	Air Force	Unknown	Los Angeles	34.89%
Fort Hunter Liggett	Army	Unknown	San Francisco	44.15%
McClellan Air Force Base	Air Force	Unknown	Sacramento	28.3%
Mountain Warfare Training Center	Marines	40	Rest of U.S.	16.5%
Sierra Army Depot	Army	Unknown	Rest of U.S.	16.5%

† Employee count includes only Non-DoD Employees in the GS Pay Scale. However, these rates apply to all General Schedule (GS) employees, including those in the Department of Defense (DoD).

California Federal Employment Statistics

This section provides statistics on Federal government employees in California, including most common occupations, agencies with the most local employees, and the average paygrade and salary rates of general schedule employees in the area. All data in this section is derived from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)'s most recent available listings of federal employees in California.

Common Occupations in California

Occupation	Number Employed	Avg. Salary	Avg. Bonus
Contact Representative	2,666	$59,390.00	$223.00
Medical Support Assistance	1,908	$49,179.00	$167.00
Tax Examining	1,336	$46,596.00	$7.00
Nursing Assistant	943	$47,403.00	$319.00
Veterans Claims Examining	922	$88,555.00	$96.00
Social Work	913	$96,958.00	$108.00
Social Insurance Administration	841	$103,741.00	$408.00
Practical Nurse	739	$62,271.00	$371.00
General Health Science	516	$104,402.00	$146.00
General Legal And Kindred Administration	411	$67,585.00	$217.00
Health Aid And Technician	406	$50,559.00	$296.00
Pharmacist	356	$147,788.00	$576.00
Aerospace Engineering	355	$143,880.00	$710.00
Forestry Technician	354	$47,339.00	$2,302.00
General Engineering	222	$152,814.00	$1,533.00
Financial Clerical And Assistance	178	$49,974.00	$29.00
Miscellaneous Administration And Program	141	$104,120.00	$411.00
Agricultural Commodity Grading	134	$48,472.00	$497.00
Psychology	129	$122,623.00	$320.00
General Physical Science	118	$124,430.00	$2,155.00
Environmental Protection Specialist	116	$137,504.00	$2,643.00
Miscellaneous Clerk And Assistant	112	$52,479.00	$188.00
Environmental Engineering	111	$134,261.00	$2,790.00
General Natural Resources Management And Biological Sciences	108	$99,805.00	$733.00

This table lists the top 24 occupations held by the approximately 14,035 federal employees working in California, California, as well as average yearly compensation for California based federal employees of that occupation.

Federal Agencies in California

Agency	California Employees	Avg. Salary	Avg. Bonus
Veterans Health Administration	6,022	$73,574.00	$254.00
Internal Revenue Service	3,516	$51,139.00	$18.00
Social Security Administration	1,916	$81,110.00	$360.00
Veterans Benefits Administration	922	$88,555.00	$96.00
Ames Research Center	437	$152,788.00	$1,323.00
Forest Service	354	$47,339.00	$2,302.00
Environmental Protection Agency	345	$132,065.00	$2,529.00
Citizenship And Immigration Services	141	$104,120.00	$411.00
Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center	140	$134,999.00	$308.00
Agricultural Marketing Service	134	$48,472.00	$497.00
U.s. Fish And Wildlife Service	108	$99,805.00	$733.00

There are eleven Federal agencies with a significant workforce in California. General Schedule employees at all of the agencies listed below will be paid according to the locality-adjusted GS payscale listed on this page.

Distribution of GS Employees in California

There are approximately 14,035 federal employees on the General Schedule payscale located within California. The average federal employee in California earns $79,320 per year, and the average yearly bonus is $502.

Based on data provided by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the most common job title for federal employees based in California is Contact Representative. The Federal agency with the largest number of employees in California is the Veterans Health Administration, which has total of 6,022 employees in the area.

The bar graph to the left shows the distribution of employees in California by paygrade, from GS-1 to GS-15. To learn more about how paygrades are determined and how they affect a federal employee's salary, see how to calculate GS Pay.