Civil Engineers salary in Salinas, CA

Median pay for civil engineers in Salinas, CA: $106,850/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $73,770 – $165,590 · about 190 employed locally

Above the typical metro median ($88,630) by +$18,220 (+21%).

What it's really worth in Salinas

With Salinas's cost of living at 113 (US=100), that $106,850 has the buying power of about $94,406 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $91,043 · median home $850,461 · median rent $2,895/mo.

Full Salinas cost of living & taxes →

How Salinas ranks for this job

On raw pay, Salinas, CA is 7th of the 187 metros we hold civil engineers wages for. Once Salinas's cost of living is applied, it ranks 67th.

The headline number flatters Salinas. Once housing and everyday costs are taken into account, civil engineers here keep less of what they earn than the raw salary implies.

What that salary buys in Salinas

A median home in Salinas, CA costs $850,461 — about 8× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $2,895/mo works out at 33% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.

Where civil engineers earn more

Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Salinas.

Metro	Median pay	vs Salinas	Rent vs Salinas
Sacramento, CA	$125,760	+18%	0.8×
San Francisco, CA	$122,670	+15%	1.1×
San Jose, CA	$119,430	+12%	1.3×
Baton Rouge, LA	$110,110	+3%	0.5×

Same job elsewhere in CA

Metro	Median pay	vs Salinas	Rent vs Salinas
Sacramento, CA	$125,760	+18%	0.8×
San Francisco, CA	$122,670	+15%	1.1×
San Jose, CA	$119,430	+12%	1.3×
Fresno, CA	$108,570	+2%	0.7×

Staying in CA keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

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