Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop salary in California
SOC 35-9031 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $36,640 median has purchasing power comparable to about $33,092 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
- No formal educational credential
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Narrow to a metro in California
Every linked area below has a published estimate for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop. 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 | $42,400 | 110.4 | 1,860 | 0.59× |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $39,810 | 115.6 | 4,090 | 0.62× |
| 3 | Napa, CA | $38,200 | 112.6 | 490 | 2.25× |
| 4 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $37,720 | 107.8 | 650 | 1.14× |
| 5 | Vallejo, CA | $37,520 | 108.5 | 280 | 0.70× |
| 6 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $36,920 | 113.6 | 15,340 | 0.88× |
| 7 | Salinas, CA | $36,380 | 109.0 | 610 | 1.18× |
| 8 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $36,140 | 111.9 | 4,720 | 1.10× |
| 9 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $36,050 | 109.9 | 280 | 1.01× |
| 10 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $35,620 | 108.8 | 700 | 1.25× |
| 11 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $35,380 | 108.6 | 570 | 1.67× |
| 12 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $35,370 | 110.5 | 930 | 1.03× |
| 13 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $35,330 | 106.7 | 2,300 | 0.77× |
| 14 | Chico, CA | $35,170 | 101.2 | 190 | 0.89× |
| 15 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | $35,070 | 105.1 | 480 | 0.59× |
| 16 | Redding, CA | $35,050 | 100.7 | 160 | 0.78× |
| 17 | Modesto, CA | $35,030 | 104.1 | 420 | 0.78× |
| 18 | Yuba City, CA | $34,880 | 104.2 | 120 | 0.87× |
| 19 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $34,830 | 106.4 | 4,330 | 0.91× |
| 20 | Merced, CA | $34,690 | 98.3 | 110 | 0.50× |
| 21 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $34,660 | 100.9 | 490 | 0.52× |
| 22 | Visalia, CA | $34,510 | 99.8 | 210 | 0.43× |
| 23 | El Centro, CA | $34,320 | 95.2 | 100 | 0.57× |
| 24 | Fresno, CA | $34,320 | 102.2 | 790 | 0.60× |
| 25 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | $34,320 | 101.6 | 50 | 0.36× |
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 hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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