San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

Across all occupations in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metropolitan area, the median wage is $74,260 a year ($35.70 an hour) and the mean $100,220, May 2025. That median is +46% against the US median of $50,980 and +28% against California's $58,240. BLS counts 2,373,920 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is ophthalmologists, except pediatric; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA vs California and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area, California and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	Hourly	$18.88	$22.73	$35.70	$61.90	$97.87	$48.19	2,373,920
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	Annual	$39,260	$47,280	$74,260	$128,760	$203,570	$100,220	2,373,920
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.

691 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$429,080	$206.29	**
2	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$374,680	*	2,900
3	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	$357,220	*	4,340
4	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$351,670	$169.07	**
5	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$338,990	$162.98	370
6	Family Medicine Physicians	$304,560	$146.42	2,170
7	Physicians, All Other	$294,360	$141.52	3,530
8	Chief Executives	$288,690	$138.79	5,190
9	Dentists, All Other Specialists	$279,820	$134.53	30
10	Computer and Information Systems Managers in California	$232,890	$111.97	23,830
11	Materials Scientists	$231,710	$111.40	380
12	Psychiatrists	$230,560	$110.85	**
13	Natural Sciences Managers	$225,230	$108.28	5,530
14	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$221,580	$106.53	5,000
15	Marketing Managers	$220,480	$106.00	11,170
16	Nurse Practitioners	$219,080	$105.33	3,110
17	Financial Managers in California	$216,150	$103.92	17,040
18	Nurse Midwives	$212,630	$102.23	190
19	Lawyers in California	$212,500	$102.17	18,470
20	Managers, All Other in California	$210,080	$101.00	21,550

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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in California	119,120	50.18	1.81	$35,950
2	Software Developers in California	69,030	29.08	2.68	$186,640
3	Fast Food and Counter Workers in California	49,970	21.05	0.85	$43,870
4	General and Operations Managers in California	43,520	18.33	0.81	$149,990
5	Registered Nurses in California	41,750	17.59	0.81	$186,610
6	Retail Salespersons in California	39,460	16.62	0.66	$43,850
7	Cashiers in California	38,250	16.11	0.81	$41,270
8	Office Clerks, General in California	37,590	15.83	1.00	$52,000
9	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in California	30,710	12.94	0.68	$48,400
10	Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in California	29,980	12.63	1.56	$96,960
11	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in California	29,930	12.61	0.89	$44,180
12	Waiters and Waitresses in California	29,080	12.25	0.84	$38,860
13	Security Guards in California	26,830	11.30	1.37	$45,730
14	Stockers and Order Fillers in California	26,610	11.21	0.62	$45,130
15	Accountants and Auditors in California	25,170	10.60	1.14	$110,730
16	Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in California	24,120	10.16	1.76	$123,250
17	Computer and Information Systems Managers in California	23,830	10.04	2.33	$232,890
18	Management Analysts in California	23,560	9.93	1.72	$126,730
19	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in California	23,400	9.86	1.41	$104,500
20	Managers, All Other in California	21,550	9.08	2.27	$210,080

Most concentrated occupations in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, 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	Biological Scientists, All Other	5.01	4,280	1.80	$138,160
2	Special Effects Artists and Animators	4.71	1,440	0.61	$136,770
3	Web and Digital Interface Designers	3.83	6,630	2.79	$163,810
4	Media and Communication Workers, All Other	3.79	1,130	0.48	$89,050
4	Cooks, All Other	3.79	1,120	0.47	$42,860
6	Acupuncturists	3.78	450	0.19	$62,590
7	Parking Enforcement Workers	3.68	510	0.21	$86,040
8	Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment	3.39	360	0.15	$122,590
9	Natural Sciences Managers	3.33	5,530	2.33	$225,230
10	Sociologists	3.29	110	0.05	$134,770

Occupation groups in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$176,340	$194,920	223,100	93.98	1.31
Computer and Mathematical	$167,770	$167,450	156,010	65.72	1.94
Legal	$159,680	$189,510	28,330	11.93	1.42
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$139,940	$154,080	122,420	51.57	0.82
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$132,880	$139,150	40,630	17.11	1.81
Architecture and Engineering	$131,120	$140,180	52,680	22.19	1.32
Business and Financial Operations	$112,960	$126,780	207,030	87.21	1.29
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$97,320	$115,250	47,540	20.03	1.52
Construction and Extraction	$80,320	$90,820	84,560	35.62	0.86
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$76,070	$81,010	63,310	26.67	0.68
Educational Instruction and Library	$75,020	$90,440	129,060	54.37	0.93
Community and Social Service	$71,790	$83,260	50,860	21.42	1.25
Office and Administrative Support	$62,120	$68,550	226,320	95.34	0.84
Production	$57,990	$63,180	80,010	33.70	0.61
Protective Service	$54,990	$76,700	52,640	22.18	0.91
Sales and Related	$53,370	$75,010	176,900	74.52	0.86
Transportation and Material Moving	$50,700	$63,330	155,080	65.33	0.74
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$47,100	$52,960	62,500	26.33	0.90
Personal Care and Service	$44,480	$51,530	51,580	21.73	1.04
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$44,250	$50,400	2,250	0.95	0.34
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$44,040	$47,660	195,610	82.40	0.94
Healthcare Support	$38,800	$45,330	165,500	69.72	1.37

Every occupation in California, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 691 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA estimates (area 41860).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, 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.