In this article, we will tell you how much you can expect to be paid in annual salary for working as a medical assistant in California. We will break down the annual income city by city, and even give you a rough estimate for how much the hourly wage is.
Before getting started, you should know that these prices are estimations based on research from a variety of different websites—from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to Indeed.com and others. It’s not quite set in stone, and every city and state’s average salary can fluctuate based on employer or even an employee’s working experience, so while every effort has been made to get these numbers correct, some of them may have changed or simply be inaccurate.
Breaking Down Medical Assistant Salary in CA
Before we go state by state, let’s first begin with the top five highest paying metropolitan areas in all of California. This data comes via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California:4,180 medical assistants are employed here. They make, on average, $20.76 per hour. Annually, medical assistants in this area earn $43,180 a year.
- Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA:850 medical assistants are employed in this area. They earn $20.46 per hour, which equates to $42,560 each year.
- San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division:This area of Cali employs 4,150 MA’s. They earn $40,800 per year, which averages out to be about $19.61 an hour.
- Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division:This area is home to 5,420 medical assistants. The MA’s here earn about $19.38 per hour, or $40,310 a year.
- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA:Finally, this metro area has 610 medical assistant employees. They earn $40,300 a year, or $19.37 an hour.
Salary By City (Based on Population Size)
Now, let’s begin by listing the average salary in 100 different cities (categorized by population size). We decided to use Indeed.com (as well as Salary.com’s) stats pertaining to California salary averages by city. Do know that none of these numbers are official—these are just estimates—but it should give you a rough idea of what you can expect to earn in each city.
- Los Angeles: $36,043
- San Diego: $34,975
- San Jose: $38,801
- San Francisco: $40,143
- Fresno: $33,509
- Sacramento: $35,708
- Long Beach: $36,349
- Oakland: $37,314
- Anaheim: $39,000
- Santa Ana: $39,000
- Riverside: $36,000
- Stockton: $35,000
- Chula Vista: $38,000
- Irvine: $37,000
- Fremont: $38,801
- San Bernadino: $41,000
- Modesto: $35,000
- Oxnard: $35,000
- Fontana: $34,000
- Moreno Valley: $33,000
- Huntington Beach: $39,000
- Glendale: $41,000
- Santa Clarita: $44,000
- Garden Grove: $39,000
- Oceanside: $38,000
- Santa Rosa: $41,000
- Rancho Cucamonga: $33,000
- Ontario: $34,000
- Elk Grove: $39,000
- Lancaster: $37,000
- Corona: $36,000
- Palmdale: $37,000
- Salinas: $41,000
- Hayward: $53,000
- Pomona: $35,000
- Escondido: $39,000
- Sunnyvale: $54,000
- Torrance: $42,000
- Orange: $39,000
- Pasadena: $42,000
- Fullerton: $39,000
- Thousand Oaks: $45,000
- Visalia: $38,000
- Roseville: $40,000
- Simi Valley: $44,000
- Concord: $50,000
- Victorville: $42,000
- Santa Clara: $54,000
- Vallejo: $50,000
- Berkeley: $50,000
- El Monte: $40,000
- Downey: $41,000
- Costa Mesa: $38,000
- Inglewood: $42,000
- Carlsbad: $38,000
- Fairfield: $42,000
- Ventura: $30,000
- West Covina: $39,000
- Richmond: $50,000
- Murrieta: $38,000
- Antioch: $44,000
- Temecula: $39,000
- Norwalk: $41,000
- Daly City: $54,000
- Burbank: $42,000
- Santa Maria: $29,000
- El Cajon: $38,000
- Rialto: $34,000
- San Mateo: $53,000
- Clovis: $35,000
- Jurupa Valley: $41,000
- Compton: $41,000
- Vista: $38,000
- Mission Viejo: $37,000
- South Gate: $41,000
- Vacaville: $41,000
- Carson: $41,000
- Santa Monica: $43,000
- Hesperia: $32,000
- Westminster: $40,000
- Redding: $44,000
- Santa Barbara: $27,000
- San Marcos: $38,000
- Chico: $42,000
- San Leandro: $53,000
- Newport Beach: $38,000
- Whittier: $40,000
- Hawthorne: $42,000
- Citrus Heights: $40,000
- Livermore: $51,000
- Tracy: $38,000
- Alhambra: $41,000
- Indio: $25,000
- Menifee: $36,000
- Buena Park: $40,000
- Hemet: $36,000
- Lakewood: $41,000
- Merced: $43,000
- Chino: $35,000
Can These Salaries Change?
As mentioned before, these salaries are estimates and can always change employer to employer. In general, salaries can change based on region of the country, employer, and even an applicant’s work experience.
Are These Salaries Enough to Live Off On?
A major reason people want to know how much they can earn as a medical assistant isn’t just because they want to purchase material goods—people need to know if it’ll be enough to pay the rent.
We listed 100 different cities above, so of course they’re all a little different. With that said, living off of a medical assistant salary in a city inside California is doable, but it will no doubt be challenging. Without knowing every single person’s personal needs (and wants), the quick answer is that you’ll more than likely need a roommate (or two) because the cost of living is so high in California, especially in highly coveted and populated cities like San Diego and San Francisco.
Does a Medical Assistant Salary Justify the Tuition Cost?
This is a very hard question to answer. If you can make, for instance–$38,000 per year as a medical assistant in CA—it’s very possible that your tuition costs were anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.
On top of that, matters are further complicated if loans are involved and paying them back can be cluttered with additional interest one must pay off.
It’s impossible to say if it’s “worth it” or if the salary is justified, because it matters on where you’re living, how big or small your everyday needs are, and whether or not you have student loans to pay off.
With that said, it certainly might feel more “justified” if one lived in an area with a lower cost of living. But, that would also likely mean you’re earning less money annually.
The truth is that in California, and all throughout the USA, medical assistants are absolutely vital to making a medical office run smoothly. But, as you can see here with our robust listing of cities and salaries, outside of certain areas, MA’s aren’t paid a large amount of money.
With that said, here’s the good news. You don’t have to go to school for four years to become a medical assistant. Because of that, your student loans will certainly be lower. You can realistically go to school for about a year or two and (depending on where you live and the amount of other applicants you’re battling with) acquire a job.
And, while it’s certainly encouraged, you don’t need to pass a certification or licensure examination to acquire a job.
So there are definitely perks to getting into the medical assistant field. If you’re just pursuing it solely for the money, it might not be the ideal career field for you. But if you can look past the income, and make it financially work for you once you acquire the job, you have a very good chance of being a content person and worker.
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