SOC 15-1251, wage year 2025-26

Computer Programmers prevailing wage in California

Short answer

In California, the median prevailing wage for computer programmers across its 28 areas is $31.54 an hour at Level 1 ($65,603 a year) and $58.43 an hour at Level 4 ($121,534 a year). The Level 2 median of $40.42 is 9% above the national median across areas ($36.98). San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is the highest-paying area at $62.91 at Level 2, and Yuba City, CA the lowest at $21.60.

Every California area for computer programmers

Area	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$49.46	$62.91	$76.37	$89.82
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$40.46	$51.54	$62.63	$73.71
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$37.10	$48.86	$60.63	$72.39
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$38.67	$47.84	$57.00	$66.17
El Centro, CA	$34.49	$46.17	$57.85	$69.53
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$33.52	$45.82	$58.13	$70.43
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$34.44	$45.59	$56.75	$67.90
Napa, CA	$33.66	$44.40	$55.15	$65.89
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$34.95	$42.88	$50.82	$58.75
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area	$30.85	$42.26	$53.68	$65.09
Modesto, CA	$33.18	$41.59	$49.99	$58.40
Visalia, CA	$32.52	$41.23	$49.94	$58.65
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area	$31.11	$40.88	$50.65	$60.42
North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area	$33.67	$40.63	$47.59	$54.55
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$30.17	$40.21	$50.26	$60.30
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$31.97	$40.02	$48.08	$56.13
Merced, CA	$33.82	$39.48	$45.14	$50.80
Salinas, CA	$29.43	$39.11	$48.78	$58.46
Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$29.48	$38.61	$47.73	$56.86
Vallejo, CA	$29.32	$38.09	$46.87	$55.64
Chico, CA	$30.57	$38.01	$45.44	$52.88
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$30.05	$37.67	$45.28	$52.90
Redding, CA	$27.95	$37.38	$46.82	$56.25
Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$29.20	$37.29	$45.38	$53.47
Stockton-Lodi, CA	$26.18	$36.02	$45.85	$55.69
Fresno, CA	$26.93	$35.24	$43.56	$51.87
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$25.60	$32.58	$39.56	$46.54
Yuba City, CA	$17.84	$21.60	$25.37	$29.13

Hourly dollars. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), prevailing wage data, wage year 2025-26. An LCA is not an H-1B approval or a job opening.

Other occupations in California

Do your consultants match today's jobs?

Free match test on two consultants.

Free match test Contact us