Los Angeles vs. San Francisco
Civil Engineers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 17-2051
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
San Francisco's median is 19.8% higher — but after local prices, San Francisco still leads by 17.7%.
Los Angeles's median $108,640 buys $95,700 at national prices (price parity 113.6); San Francisco's $130,160 buys $112,600 (115.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is San Francisco against Los Angeles.
| Los Angeles | San Francisco | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 16,340 | 10,990 | −32.7% |
| 10th percentile | $72,860 | $90,860 | +24.7% |
| 25th percentile | $84,480 | $103,030 | +22.0% |
| Median | $108,640 | $130,160 | +19.8% |
| 75th percentile | $141,560 | $163,150 | +15.3% |
| 90th percentile | $170,670 | $202,730 | +18.8% |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Price parity
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Full pages
- Civil Engineers in Los Angeles · Civil Engineers in San Francisco
Percentiles are reported exactly as released. Derived (price-adjusted) figures round to the nearest hundred. We take no payment for how any figure is presented.