El Centro, CA

Across all occupations in the El Centro, CA metropolitan area, the median wage is $45,140 a year ($21.70 an hour) and the mean $61,630, May 2025. That median is −11% against the US median of $50,980 and −22% against California's $58,240. BLS counts 65,430 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is physicians, all other; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: El Centro, CA vs California and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the El Centro, CA area, California and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
El Centro, CA	Hourly	$16.50	$17.09	$21.70	$35.64	$55.71	$29.63	65,430
El Centro, CA	Annual	$34,320	$35,550	$45,140	$74,120	$115,870	$61,630	65,430
California	Hourly	$17.28	$20.00	$28.00	$47.06	$76.48	$38.79	18,213,700
California	Annual	$35,950	$41,600	$58,240	$97,880	$159,080	$80,690	18,213,700
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

228 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: California. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in El Centro, CA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Physicians, All Other	$370,290	$178.02	40
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$220,170	$105.85	60
3	Dentists, General	$217,830	$104.73	40
4	Chief Executives	$177,950	$85.55	60
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$172,460	$82.91	40
6	Nurse Practitioners	$164,700	$79.18	70
7	Lawyers in California	$162,580	$78.16	110
8	Pharmacists	$158,490	$76.20	90
9	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$156,750	*	170
10	Physician Assistants	$156,730	$75.35	40
11	Computer and Information Systems Managers in California	$152,360	$73.25	50
12	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$149,290	$71.78	50
13	Managers, All Other in California	$147,410	$70.87	360
14	School Psychologists	$145,400	$69.90	50
15	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors	$141,760	$68.16	200
16	Human Resources Managers	$137,930	$66.31	50
17	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers	$134,950	$64.88	40
18	Speech-Language Pathologists	$133,760	$64.31	70
19	Medical and Health Services Managers	$132,620	$63.76	220
20	Industrial Production Managers	$132,280	$63.60	80

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in El Centro, CA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in California	8,020	122.52	4.42	$34,320
2	Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	3,350	51.22	30.00	$35,140
3	Cashiers in California	1,960	29.92	1.51	$35,090
4	Retail Salespersons in California	1,900	28.98	1.16	$35,490
5	Fast Food and Counter Workers in California	1,630	24.98	1.01	$38,840
6	Stockers and Order Fillers in California	1,360	20.76	1.14	$39,450
7	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in California	1,190	18.12	1.27	$40,450
8	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in California	1,130	17.25	1.30	$55,140
9	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in California	1,110	16.95	1.86	$43,970
10	Office Clerks, General in California	1,100	16.80	1.06	$44,500
11	Registered Nurses in California	950	14.50	0.67	$103,450
12	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in California	930	14.19	0.75	$37,350
13	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in California	860	13.17	1.48	$100,390
14	Compliance Officers	840	12.90	4.81	$106,750
15	Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in California	780	11.86	1.73	$99,440
16	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	770	11.83	16.07	$123,970
17	General and Operations Managers in California	730	11.19	0.50	$99,250
18	Substitute Teachers, Short-Term	690	10.54	3.12	$54,420
19	Security Guards in California	670	10.27	1.24	$37,230
20	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in California	640	9.80	1.36	$46,250

Most concentrated occupations in El Centro, CA

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	30.00	3,350	51.22	$35,140
2	Agricultural Equipment Operators	21.84	260	4.00	$37,200
3	First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers	20.69	240	3.72	$64,150
4	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	16.07	770	11.83	$123,970
5	Protective Service Workers, All Other	8.35	290	4.38	$35,750
6	Rehabilitation Counselors	6.40	260	3.90	$43,960
7	Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians	6.14	100	1.50	$48,880
8	Compliance Officers	4.81	840	12.90	$106,750
9	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in California	4.42	8,020	122.52	$34,320
10	Tutors	3.31	240	3.73	$49,000

Occupation groups in El Centro, CA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Legal	$122,050	$126,440	210	3.16	0.38
Management	$121,230	$126,200	2,960	45.17	0.63
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$100,860	$106,850	2,650	40.43	0.64
Architecture and Engineering	$97,680	$103,370	420	6.39	0.38
Protective Service	$93,240	$85,510	4,140	63.29	2.61
Computer and Mathematical	$88,940	$96,110	410	6.34	0.19
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$85,270	$91,850	520	7.99	0.84
Business and Financial Operations	$83,550	$89,290	2,860	43.72	0.65
Educational Instruction and Library	$70,910	$82,090	5,500	84.13	1.44
Construction and Extraction	$64,540	$68,920	1,790	27.36	0.66
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$60,740	$66,900	2,260	34.59	0.88
Community and Social Service	$59,830	$70,510	1,610	24.67	1.44
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$52,990	$69,340	290	4.39	0.33
Office and Administrative Support	$47,120	$52,480	5,760	87.98	0.77
Production	$45,370	$53,710	1,980	30.30	0.55
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$41,380	$44,380	1,980	30.24	1.03
Transportation and Material Moving	$40,410	$47,530	5,440	83.15	0.95
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$38,330	$41,010	4,470	68.29	0.78
Personal Care and Service	$37,580	$44,010	990	15.10	0.72
Sales and Related	$36,960	$45,440	5,870	89.74	1.04
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$36,300	$40,710	4,180	63.83	22.81
Healthcare Support	$34,320	$36,230	9,140	139.75	2.75

Every occupation in California, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 228 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS El Centro, CA estimates (area 20940).

*: Wage estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the El Centro, CA area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.