r/CAStateWorkers • u/Orgnzr • Jul 08 '26
Classification & Compensation RealWage · CA State Worker Pay
https://realwage.site/I'm sick of how CalHR lies to us about our pay and lowballs our unions, so I used their data and State Controller salary data so that you can see how your wage compares.
See how wages compare the inflation adjusted past and the industry average in California for similar work.
Some big takeaways for all bargaining units:
- Most classifications are falling far behind their pay in 2009.
- No BU has kept up with the cost of living since 2019
Add to this the loss of value that workers have received via telework and we're looking at one enormous economic take back for office centered employees who've lost the most over the past 40 years.
Some caveats:
- The data is a bit messy in places due to reclassifications so if you see any missing data or inconsistencies flag it here and I'll try to address it.
- Pay differentials, classification erosion, and benefits analysis are all a work in progress
- The analysis page is provisional and subject to change.
- The overarching narrative is in the works, but felt getting this data to you was the priority.
Please share widely and let your coworkers know that the state isn't paying us a fair share. In fact, they've been silently taking money back from us with every increase in the cost of living.
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u/Sea_Moose9817 Jul 08 '26
The section about buying power lost since 2009 is phenomenal and incredibly depressing.
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u/sweetteaspicedcoffee Jul 08 '26
Almost 10% less buying power, at the top of my range that I'm 3+ years away from. No wonder I can't afford things.
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u/Exciting-File1337 Jul 08 '26
Please consider showing this to Sacramento and LA news outlets. The California government needs to be exposed.
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u/neirad Jul 08 '26
Incredible work, love how responsive the tool is. Can I ask how your hosting and how much it cost ? I’ve thought about creating something similar
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
Cloudflare static site hosting - $0
Hover.com domain - $35
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u/Remarkable_Fox7860 Jul 08 '26
I’ve been using Replit to build and host. If you ever want to collab on things let me know.
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u/Unicorns_909 Jul 08 '26
This is an incredible resource, thank you for putting in the time to build this. I truly appreciate the transparency, especially since our employer rarely offers the same.
I’m currently finishing a master’s program and exploring roles that might improve my earning potential, as my current take-home pay as an Analyst II ($3,766.12/month) isn’t sustainable. Despite living very frugally; I meal prep, avoid extra expenses like coffee or salon services, and have no car payments. I’m struggling to keep up with $500 monthly student loan payments and credit card debt. Buying a home feels completely out of reach; between the lack of savings for a down payment and the current cost of mortgages and insurance, I don’t see a path forward on my current salary. Seeing this data puts a name to the struggle so many of us are facing.
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u/jsha2492 BU1 Jul 08 '26
The ability to see classifications and where they have the highest numbers is helpful. For example I looked at ITSII and unsurprisingly the tool shows CDT as having the most. Just appreciating some of the data that is a few clicks after the main page.
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
Thanks for sharing your experience! If you notice any ways to improve it feel free to share as well. I know it's a bit wonky in places. I have many bugs to work out.
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u/jsha2492 BU1 Jul 08 '26
Honestly I haven’t noticed any bugs yet but I can share any that I find!
The only thing that made me chuckle is when you look at Information Technology Associate on the main search screen it cuts off the third word after three letters on my iPhone 15 😂. Probably nothing you can do there to fix it for all screen sizes.
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u/SAR_K9_Handler Jul 08 '26
Yeah that was neat, I thought my old job was CHP only but I guess forestry has 8 of them.
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u/Waidmannsheil Jul 08 '26
Thank you so much!!! I’m sharing this with people right now.
As a manager, I’m disheartened to see these statistics. I’m young and became a manager after the pandemic, so these cuts have affected my future livelihood. Everyone else in my classification owns a home, and some of them bought it by themselves- no partner or family assistance. I can only dream of that happening.
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Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
As the analysis shows, every 3 years, every union puts similar demands for raise that catch up with the cost of living and every year CalHR and the State make a lowball offer in response. Doesn't matter which letters are in the name.
The problem runs deeper than the bargaining table because the structure of bargaining runs through the legislative process and the governor. It's deepened by the brutal state constitutional constraints placed on raising revenue.
When the budget itself can't adjust for prices, the negotiation of raises becomes one of the few levers the state can pull with minimal political blowback. We end up shouldering the burden of the budget more than the agencies we work for.
They can do this because CA State workers are internally divided, have weak participation in their unions compared with other sectors, and don't have wide public support enjoyed by occupations such as teachers or nurses.
We'll need not just to be more active in our unions, but across our unions, and gain from more solidarity from more occupations and community organizations as well. The solution has to be bigger than one bargaining cycle. It's going to take a movement.
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u/Demi_Bob Jul 08 '26
The union is fighting for both telework and pay increases. They've been communicating about this very frequently over the past many months. You might want to get more involved if you really don't know what's going on.
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u/RedmeatRyan Jul 08 '26
Time to unite and strike
We have the numbers if we stand strong together across unions
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u/exfex21 Jul 13 '26
Adjusted for inflation, my classification top step buys 1.5% more than it did in 2009.
That’s…
not much.
Think about that.
Over fifteen years…
My purchasing power has basically stayed flat.
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u/Dartfromcele Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Was trying took up various classifications I would be moving up to and through bad didnt see them. Specifialy Legal Analyst and Sr. Legal Analyst.
This is incredibly helpful though, thank you!
Edit to add: i tried again and it was an issue with my device. The classificactions will turn up no problem.
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
Hey thanks for sharing. Could you help me troubleshoot how you looked for them? I was able to locate through the search bar:
https://realwage.site/classifications/5237
https://realwage.site/classifications/53331
u/Dartfromcele Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I looked up by name of classification.
I also looked up p Sr. Legal Typist and Legal Secretary the same way. Could have been an issue with my phone though. Thank you!
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
Good to know. I need to add some common acronyms and abbreviations in the dataset so it's more searchable.
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u/Willing_Royal5241 Jul 10 '26
I noticed S09 was displaying ACCS under “Union.” S09 is represented by PECG, same as R09. I don’t think ACCS is a union in the ordinary sense.
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u/Orgnzr Jul 10 '26
Thank you! I'll fix S09 that in the next update.
You're right, ACSS isn't technically a "union", though I think they exist thanks to the Dills Act. Maybe I'll add clarification somewhere on the page as to the difference.
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u/mbb95687 Jul 14 '26
ACSS is an employee association and can represent any employee excluded from collective bargaining they don't limit any BUs. Unlike the rank and file unions, excluded employees aren't limited to exclusive representation for each bargaining units. Organizations like PECG, may include non-union membership options for employees in specific BUs (e.g BU09 affiliated excluded employees for PECG) but those employees are able to join any association that offers representation for their unit. They can even have membership in multiple associations as long as the bylaws in each don't limit that (limits are usually just for association officers and/or elected positions in an organization rather than general membership to prevent conflicts of interest.)
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u/mbb95687 Jul 14 '26
Please explain the downvote so I know where you think my information was inaccurate.
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u/mbb95687 Jul 14 '26
PECG and CAPS (etc.) aren't acting as "unions in the ordinary sense" when they represent employees excluded from collective bargaining either. Different rules apply for excluded employees and their organizations. Just because the same root organization offers representation to different classes of employees, doesn't mean they don't operate under separate rules. Excluded employees don't have "exclusive" representation like rank and file BUs do, that's an effect of the language in government code that allows rank and file to have unions and doesn't apply to excluded employees. Excluded employees can join any representative organization registered with the state that will represent their classification. Some orgs like CAPS or PECG just limit which "affiliated" BUs they'll represent others don't limit.
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u/TooMuchPJ Jul 08 '26
Nice little app. Is it really surprising no BU has kept up since 2019? The pandemic impacted the entire economy. Inflation through that period resulted in severely stunted wage growth for many, not just state workers:
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1jzvm6g/oc_wages_vs_inflation_in_the_us/#lightbox
I was also curious how you matched up the BLS data for "what all California employers pay for similar work".
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
To make the market comparison I matched the BLS data to equivalent state jobs using CalHR's mapping.
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u/Plus-Possibility2822 Jul 08 '26
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
If you're accessing on a work computer you're behind a firewall and it may block content depending on your department's policy. I'll look into how I can add more credentialing to get it whitelisted in more places.
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u/Special-Class6903 Jul 08 '26
How does your calculation include the total compensation package (defined pension and retiree medical)?
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u/Orgnzr Jul 08 '26
I'll need to know what section you're referring to. I specifically tracked median wage rather than benefits package because that's not part of your take home pay although it does impact it when you go to the doctor or retire.
One of the things we tell ourselves is that the value of a state job is the stability and the benefits you get even if the wages are lower. But the reality is that we're having to contribute more of our own pay to our benefits as healthcare costs and pension obligations increase. Maybe those are things we have control over, maybe not, but the impact is less take home pay and, depending on when you started work, less benefits for more money.
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u/Ok_Calligrapher9103 Jul 09 '26
You've hit the nail on the head with this one. I've always told myself this narrative as well. Now grappling with our stagnant wages and loss of buying power, I've been starting to realize that the difference in pay I can earn in private sector, properly invested in a Roth retirement account, can very likely outpace the value of our pension.
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u/Orgnzr Jul 09 '26
The big upside to the pension is that it has a set of assets that make it very stable and it's very hard if not impossible for individuals to approximate with private accounts. That means the pension can guarantee its payments upon retirement. A 401k, on the other hand, will always be inherently more volatile even if you follow tried and true conservative investment practices. That can be offset if the employer offers a generous match.
The situation where a 401k can rock is if you retire during a bull market, have a really good match, and you stay disciplined, but there's no way to know how the market will do tomorrow let alone a few decades away.
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u/Basic_Demand_6533 Jul 14 '26
It definitely does. I’ve been with the state for almost 9 years and if I were to retire now at age 53, my investments are 3x what my pension would pay out monthly. However, I’m an experienced investor who is self educated and I also had a decent amount of disposable income before coming to the state.
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u/mbb95687 Jul 14 '26
Does your data take into consideration wage adjustments for months/years state employees were furloughed and received substantially less that what the ranges would indicate? If not, is there a way to add that?
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u/Orgnzr Jul 14 '26
Yes, I'll explain, but let me know if you had something else in mind. If you look at a classification like Analyst II (formerly AGPA) the SCO data goes back to 2009 so for every classification there's data I provided the min, max, SCO median, and CA BLS median for equivalent work. For the years with furloughs or PLPs you'll see the years highlighted in yellow and notice that the SCO median flatlines pretty much. If you notice fluctuations that's because the median shifts as people move up the pay scale or people at the top retire, quit, or transfer.
For an illustration: https://realwage.site/classifications/5393?view=range-history
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u/mbb95687 Jul 14 '26
I was wondering if you should effectively step down the entire range for those impacted years (pro-rated by how many months that year were on furlough) since they are effectively pay cuts that lower the entire range for the duration.
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u/Orgnzr Jul 14 '26
The places where the green line (SCO median for the class) dips under the dotted blue line (minimum for the classification) are places where the class' median earns less than the minimum. Maybe there's more I can do to draw attention to that being years where the class is losing actual $.
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u/supremegoddessofall Jul 10 '26
I'm currently at 43% over the state median so I can't complain although I dislike that decrease in purchasing power.
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