Writers and Authors salary in California
SOC 27-3043 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $86,480 median has purchasing power comparable to about $78,107 nationally. California's BEA regional price parity is 110.7 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for California.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Narrow to a metro in California
Every linked area below has a published estimate for writers and authors. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $118,810 | 110.4 | 400 | 1.13× |
| 2 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $107,700 | 107.8 | 50 | 0.74× |
| 3 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $86,340 | 108.6 | 30 | 0.89× |
| 4 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $82,920 | 110.5 | 70 | 0.69× |
| 5 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $82,690 | 106.7 | 240 | 0.72× |
| 6 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $82,590 | 111.9 | 350 | 0.74× |
| 7 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $78,990 | 106.4 | 190 | 0.36× |
| 8 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $77,250 | 113.6 | — | — |
| 9 | Fresno, CA | $77,060 | 102.2 | 70 | 0.46× |
| 10 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $74,820 | 108.8 | 40 | 0.71× |
| 11 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $73,600 | 100.9 | 40 | 0.43× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where writers and authors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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