Angry at California’s lofty cost of living or its stubbornly high housing expenses?
Generous pay raises can be seen as a culprit — or a way many Californians survive the financial stress.
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed employment data from a quarterly tally of unemployment insurance filings, which are considered highly accurate, county-level counts of pay and staffing. The stats for 2025’s third quarter showed that among the 75 counties with the largest job markets, a list that includes 12 from California, the Golden State had seven of the 25 biggest 12-month increases in average weekly wages.
San Mateo’s eye-catching 32% jump in its average weekly wage of $4,523 made the county the national leader in both the size of the one-year increase and pay. The county had 411,700 jobs, up 1.2% over the past year.
The Bay Area economy has been percolating as its tech-savvy workforce has become highly sought after amid the expanded use of artificial intelligence across many aspects of life.
Also in the top 25 counties were:
– San Francisco: Up 13% (No. 2 of the 75) to $3,459 (No. 3) for 699,300 jobs, off 0.2% in a year.
– Santa Clara: Up 12% (No. 3) to $3,868 (No. 2) for 1,122,700 jobs, up 1% in a year.
– Orange: Up 5.3% (No. 13) to $1,579 (No. 27) for 1,661,000 jobs, flat in a year.
– San Diego: Up 5.3% (No. 13) to $1,603 (No. 25) for 1,530,100 jobs, off 0.1% in a year.
– Fresno: Up 5% (No. 21) to $1,168 (No. 74) for 433,800 jobs, off 0.6% in a year.
– Alameda: Up 4.7% (No. 25) to $1,936 (No. 11) for 782,100 jobs, off 0.5% in a year.
Other Golden counties
Look at typical raises among the other California counties among the 75 biggest job markets …
– Los Angeles: Up 3.7% (No. 43 of the 75) to $1,578 (No. 28) for 4,517,500 jobs, flat in a year.
– San Bernardino: Up 3.4% (No. 55) to $1,202 (No. 72) for 850,400 jobs, up 0.8% in a year.
– Sacramento: Up 2.8% (No. 64) to $1,562 (No. 31) for 731,400 jobs, up 0.4% in a year.
– Riverside: Up 2.6% (No. 67) to $1,152 (No. 75) for 842,100 jobs, up 0.7% in a year.
– Contra Costa: Up 0.9% (No. 73) to $1,624 (No. 21) for 373,600 jobs, up 0.5% in a year.
Outperforming outsiders
As a group, these 12 counties averaged 5.9% wage hikes over the year, to $1,905 weekly for 14 million workers, with staffing up 0.2% in a year.
Contrast those pay patterns with those in the 63 large job markets outside California. Those raises ran 4.2% to $1,646 for 50 million jobs, a workforce that shrank 0.2% in a year.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
