Average Sound Engineer Salary in California, United States for 2026

In this article, we will look at the average Sound Engineer salary for 2026 in California and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the United States dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the USD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does a Sound Engineer Make in California?

A Sound Engineer working in California will typically earn around 90,000 USD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 44,500 USD to the highest average salary of 134,700 USD.

These are average salaries for a Sound Engineer in California and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Sound Engineer to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Sound Engineer salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Sound Engineer Salaries in California

So we've looked at the average salaries a Sound Engineer will earn in California. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Sound Engineer can earn between 44,500 USD and 134,700 USD on average in California. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Sound Engineer in California is 83,700 USD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 83,700 USD, and 50% of the population earn more than 83,700 USD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Sound Engineer salary in California, 25% of the population are earning less than 60,500 USD while 75% of the population earn more than 60,500 USD.

75% of the population earn less than 107,300 USD, and 25% of the population earn more than 107,300 USD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

Sound Engineer Salary by Experience Level in California

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average Sound Engineer salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

• 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Sound Engineer in California that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 51,500 USD.
• 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Sound Engineer salary would increase to 71,100 USD.
• 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Sound Engineer, the average salary would be 90,600 USD.
• 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 108,200 USD.
• 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Sound Engineer with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 121,800 USD.
• 20+ Years Experience. For a Sound Engineer with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 128,200 USD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

Sound Engineer Salary by Education Level in California

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Sound Engineer in California based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

• High School. A Sound Engineer in California with a high school education can earn an average salary of 63,500 USD.
• Certificate or Diploma. A Sound Engineer in California with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 73,100 USD.
• Bachelor's Degree. A Sound Engineer in California with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 100,700 USD.
• Master's Degree. A Sound Engineer in California with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 124,500 USD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Sound Engineer Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In California, a male sound engineer will earn an average of 76,600 USD, while a female sound engineer will earn around 70,500 USD.

This means that a male sound engineer earns approximately 9% more than a female sound engineer for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in California

Sound Engineer Average Pay Raise in California

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Sound Engineer in California is around 11% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in United States is around 8% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 11 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Sound Engineer in California can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in California for 2026

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in United States.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Sound Engineer Bonus and Incentive Rates in California

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Sound Engineer is a low bonus based job, with 32% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

68% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 0% to 4%.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in United States earn approximately 6% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Sound Engineer

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Sound Engineer in California.

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in United States, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

Salary Comparison by State

The table below includes links to the average salary for each state in United States.