The Pay Scale for Industrial Hygienists in California
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics includes industrial hygienists with all occupational health and safety specialists in its salary figures for this profession. Their average salary in California as of May 2010 was $36.36 per hour, or $75,630 per year. That was about 14 percent higher than the nationwide average for this occupation of $65,610 per year. California had the second-largest number of all occupational health and safety specialists by state, with about 5,160 of the nation's estimated 54,680. Only Texas had more.
- The middle 50 percent of the pay scale for California industrial hygienists was $29.30 to $42.57 per hour in 2010, or $60,940 to $88,550 per year. The bottom 10 percent of earners were making $45,070 per year and below, and the top 10 percent $104,290 and more.
- The highest average salary in California for industrial hygienists was in the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City metropolitan area, where these workers earned $40.59 per hour on average, or $84,440 per year. The average salary in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara region was nearly identical, at $84,220 per year. The greater Sacramento area ranked third, at an average annual pay rate of $83,190, and Salinas was fourth in the state, at $82,700 per year on average. The lowest-paying areas were the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale region at $69,240 per year, Stockton at $69,330, and the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area at $69,460.
- Nationwide, California was the fourth highest-paying state for industrial hygienists and other occupational health and safety specialists. By state or district, the District of Columbia ranked first, with an average salary of $41.96 per hour for these workers, or $87,280 per year. Alaska and Rhode Island ranked in second and third place, respectively. By metro area, the greater San Francisco and greater San Jose areas ranked in third and fourth place for industrial hygienist salaries, behind Framingham, Massachusetts, at an average salary of $94,310 per year, and the Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington, area at $85,800.
