Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, ranked by annual average salary. For each job, the table displays the number of employees with that job, as well as the job's entry-level salary. (The entry-level salary is calculated based on the 10% of paid workers with the lowest salaries.)

Based on the table, we see that the highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA are those of all other physicians, with an average annual salary of $233,640. The second highest-paying jobs are those of family medicine physician, with an average salary of $223,520.

All of the shown salary and employment information for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA has been computed using data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in April 2023. Notably, the highest-paying occupations change from year to year. Tables 2, 3, and 4 show the top 10 highest-paying occupations in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Table 1. Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA (2022 survey)

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	All Other Physicians	$233,640	$148,680	280
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$223,520	$166,670	70
3	General Dentists	$209,990	$132,700	90
4	Chief Executives	$197,660	$78,000	230
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$197,360	$124,390	100
6	Registered Nurses	$175,350	$97,070	1,500
7	Natural Sciences Managers	$166,170	$84,810	70
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$165,890	$101,240	220
9	Pharmacists	$157,690	$128,270	200
10	Nurse Practitioners	$152,680	$106,490	150
11	Human Resources Managers	$149,990	$81,750	120
12	Financial Managers	$147,320	$83,920	380
13	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$143,080	$98,800	40
14	Physician Assistants	$141,080	$79,810	120
15	Marketing Managers	$138,470	$73,900	150
16	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$137,910	$72,440	40
17	Software Developers	$137,730	$77,930	460
18	Diagnostic Medical Sonographers	$135,930	$77,680	50
19	All Other Managers	$135,820	$68,460	350
20	Postsecondary Education Administrators	$133,340	$83,100	270
21	Public Relations Managers	$131,540	$75,910	30
22	Lawyers	$130,680	$79,290	270
23	Elementary and Secondary School Education Administrators	$128,780	$79,870	180
24	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	$128,190	$63,530	70
25	Engineers, All Other	$127,920	$83,710	100
26	Medical and Health Services Managers	$127,260	$66,200	330
27	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$126,740	$55,450	60
28	Veterinarians	$126,420	$63,890	110
29	Occupational Therapists	$125,170	$92,980	70
30	First-Line Supervisors of Fire Fighting and Prevention Workers	$124,950	$54,230	80
31	Electrical Engineers	$123,590	$77,310	60
32	Dental Hygienists	$118,680	$106,800	230
33	Other Physical Scientists	$114,820	$81,330	30
34	Respiratory Therapists	$114,200	$60,930	50
35	School Psychologists	$114,100	$81,290	70
36	Geoscientists (Except Hydrologists and Geographers)	$113,730	$71,700	50
37	Mechanical Engineers	$112,860	$67,880	160
38	Physical Therapists	$108,300	$81,190	160
39	Optometrists	$106,130	$77,870	50
40	Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales Representatives	$105,880	$53,720	190
41	Construction Managers	$105,590	$52,580	230
42	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$105,410	$32,820	50
43	Industrial Production Managers	$104,850	$64,650	130
44	Construction and Building Inspectors	$104,720	$62,110	90
45	Data Scientists	$104,660	$60,740	80
46	Industrial Engineers	$104,600	$77,330	80
47	Urban and Regional Planners	$104,560	$71,200	70
48	Speech-Language Pathologists	$104,540	$79,400	110
49	Computer Systems Analysts	$103,780	$61,290	190
50	Civil Engineers	$103,560	$70,180	150
51	General and Operations Managers	$103,470	$54,880	1,580
52	Radiologic Technologists	$103,070	$63,320	110
53	Administrative Services Managers	$103,010	$60,730	180
54	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$101,450	$63,010	60
55	Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers	$101,040	$76,820	380
56	Computer Occupations, All Other	$100,000	$50,810	230
57	Personal Financial Advisors	$99,540	$54,420	90
58	Producers and Directors	$99,520	$45,930	30
59	Sales Managers	$98,280	$48,620	510
60	Biochemists and Biophysicists	$97,990	$62,440	40
61	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$97,910	$57,610	100
62	Other Education Administrators	$97,530	$54,110	60
63	Environmental Engineers	$96,310	$75,060	40
64	Facilities Managers	$96,180	$59,090	80
65	Project Management Specialists	$93,630	$53,050	340
66	Computer Programmers	$93,380	$55,470	40
67	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$91,320	$47,730	110
68	Dietitians and Nutritionists	$86,220	$49,640	60
69	Financial Analysts	$86,050	$71,300	100
70	Other Biological Scientists	$86,040	$52,760	90
71	Web Developers	$84,960	$50,900	50
72	Chemists	$84,100	$55,040	40
73	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	$84,040	$60,520	110
74	Web and Digital Interface Designers	$83,770	$46,060	60
75	Civil Engineering Technicians	$83,770	$47,990	40
76	Aerospace Engineers	$83,200	$45,970	160
77	First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers	$83,150	$56,040	240
78	Logisticians	$83,100	$42,320	80
79	Accountants and Auditors	$82,360	$58,130	660
80	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	$82,000	$55,950	280
81	Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	$81,580	$57,850	550
82	Other Teachers and Instructors	$81,300	$48,470	170
83	Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers	$81,290	$46,030	240
84	Child, Family, and School Social Workers	$80,690	$46,810	250
85	Management Analysts	$80,580	$51,690	540
86	Environmental Scientists and Health Specialists	$80,310	$48,930	120
87	Paramedics	$79,800	$50,770	60
88	Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	$78,580	$65,140	190
89	Healthcare Social Workers	$78,580	$48,010	120
90	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	$78,440	$49,220	1,110
91	Surgical Technologists	$78,340	$60,310	60
92	Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	$78,030	$52,280	310
93	Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	$77,700	$48,940	40
94	Correctional Officers and Jailers	$77,560	$77,560	90
95	Instructional Coordinators	$77,360	$49,050	120
96	Librarians and Media Collections Specialists	$77,330	$38,270	70
97	Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technicians	$77,290	$51,770	30
98	Kindergarten and Elementary School Special Education Teachers	$76,690	$53,800	110
99	Cost Estimators	$76,630	$48,050	160
100	First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	$76,490	$50,070	90

Table 2. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA – 2021 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Chief Executives	$179,000
2	Natural Sciences Managers	$168,570
3	Pharmacists	$164,740
4	Registered Nurses	$164,710
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$164,060
6	Real Estate Brokers	$163,130
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$162,860
8	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$161,140
9	Marketing Managers	$154,770
10	Nurse Practitioners	$140,330

Table 3. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA – 2020 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	General Dentists	$180,120
2	Chief Executives	$167,080
3	Lawyers	$161,270
4	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$160,920
5	Pharmacists	$155,350
6	Medical and Health Services Managers	$155,200
7	Natural Sciences Managers	$155,170
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$146,720
9	Nurse Practitioners	$134,590
10	Physician Assistants	$133,600

Table 4. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA – 2019 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Chief Executives	$159,460
2	General Dentists	$155,020
3	Pharmacists	$151,150
4	Medical and Health Services Managers	$144,400
5	Registered Nurses	$142,930
6	Human Resources Managers	$139,060
7	Lawyers	$137,390
8	Computer Hardware Engineers	$137,340
9	Physician Assistants	$132,220
10	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$131,910

Also see The most popular jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA.

Also see The most popular jobs in California, The top paying jobs in California.