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California Salary Guide 2026

Real salary data for 295 roles in California. Based on verified reports with percentile breakdowns and experience comparisons.

295Job roles
$146,255Avg salary
$275,000Top earner
2026Updated

Top paying roles in California

Click any role to see the full salary breakdown including percentiles and experience levels.

Job title	Avg annual salary
Staff Security Engineer	$275,000/yr
GRC Director	$260,000/yr
Software Security Engineer	$235,540/yr
Head of Security	$230,590/yr
Director Information Security	$220,081/yr
Consulting Director	$217,500/yr
Security Incident Response Engineer	$214,250/yr
IT Director	$214,141/yr
Head of Information Security	$214,000/yr
Cloud Security	$210,920/yr
Director of Security	$206,559/yr
Principal Security Engineer	$206,085/yr

Browse all 295 roles in California

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About California salaries

California is one of the highest paying states in the US for technology and security professionals. The average salary across all roles is $146,255 per year. The concentration of major tech companies in Silicon Valley pushes salaries well above the national average at senior levels.

All figures are based on real salary reports submitted by professionals working in California. Data is updated for 2026.

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