Bakersfield vs. Salinas
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 45-2092
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Salinas's median is 6.0% higher — but at national prices the two medians buy almost exactly the same.
Bakersfield's median $34,620 buys $34,300 at national prices (price parity 100.9); Salinas's $36,700 buys $33,700 (109.0).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Salinas against Bakersfield.
| Bakersfield | Salinas | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 32,500 | 26,830 | −17.4% |
| 10th percentile | $34,320 | $35,140 | +2.4% |
| 25th percentile | $34,320 | $35,920 | +4.7% |
| Median | $34,620 | $36,700 | +6.0% |
| 75th percentile | $35,260 | $42,060 | +19.3% |
| 90th percentile | $36,330 | $47,450 | +30.6% |
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
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse in Bakersfield · Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse in Salinas
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.