Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, 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 Maria-Santa Barbara, CA are those of family medicine physician, with an average annual salary of $216,670. The second highest-paying jobs are those of psychiatrist, with an average salary of $215,990.

All of the shown salary and employment information for Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, 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 Maria-Santa Barbara, CA in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$216,670	$70,550	90
2	Psychiatrists	$215,990	$163,980	90
3	Chief Executives	$204,990	$89,160	340
4	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$174,420	$108,180	780
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$169,270	$128,330	410
6	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$168,710	$94,760	60
7	Marketing Managers	$165,050	$82,780	430
8	General Dentists	$157,770	$104,000	140
9	All Other Managers	$157,560	$77,940	930
10	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$156,770	$128,380	100
11	Pharmacists	$153,100	$128,380	330
12	Natural Sciences Managers	$140,960	$75,870	80
13	Financial Managers	$140,070	$82,960	860
14	Physicists	$139,650	$103,500	40
15	Lawyers	$139,230	$79,000	550
16	Purchasing Managers	$137,610	$83,970	80
17	Public Relations Managers	$136,630	$78,340	60
18	Human Resources Managers	$136,290	$77,260	210
19	Nurse Practitioners	$134,670	$119,560	240
20	Software Developers	$134,490	$88,350	2,270
21	Electrical Engineers	$133,800	$81,390	330
22	Elementary and Secondary School Education Administrators	$133,690	$89,050	320
23	Computer Hardware Engineers	$133,330	$108,100	220
24	First-Line Supervisors of Fire Fighting and Prevention Workers	$133,260	$108,000	170
25	Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars	$129,550	$50,360	80
26	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$129,510	$78,740	240
27	Dental Hygienists	$129,460	$102,460	460
28	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	$129,270	$100,380	60
29	Engineers, All Other	$128,450	$80,920	460
30	Postsecondary Education Administrators	$127,260	$79,070	370
31	Sales Engineers	$126,660	$72,540	70
32	Physician Assistants	$126,090	$123,150	510
33	Optometrists	$125,370	$86,540	50
34	Training and Development Managers	$123,200	$74,660	60
35	Fundraising Managers	$122,440	$76,890	50
36	Medical and Health Services Managers	$119,820	$56,990	550
37	Other Physical Scientists	$118,620	$91,250	30
38	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	$117,580	$62,710	270
39	School Psychologists	$115,960	$79,420	100
40	Art Directors	$115,940	$60,860	60
41	Aerospace Engineers	$115,610	$80,560	160
42	Database Administrators	$113,430	$58,620	70
43	Computer Systems Analysts	$112,630	$69,770	470
44	Data Scientists	$112,050	$59,890	190
45	Industrial Production Managers	$111,540	$67,370	240
46	Registered Nurses	$109,910	$46,260	3,940
47	Fire Inspectors and Investigators	$109,560	$102,620	80
48	Personal Financial Advisors	$108,960	$58,210	320
49	Information Security Analysts	$108,740	$52,100	160
50	Financial Analysts	$108,730	$79,060	310
51	Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers	$108,490	$82,570	660
52	Speech-Language Pathologists	$108,350	$79,640	150
53	Construction Managers	$108,300	$77,480	290
54	Multimedia Artists and Animators	$108,200	$41,020	70
55	Physical Therapists	$107,850	$82,210	270
56	Diagnostic Medical Sonographers	$107,520	$81,330	130
57	Industrial Engineers	$107,220	$76,960	310
58	Web and Digital Interface Designers	$106,500	$38,380	140
59	Environmental Engineers	$106,360	$77,910	60
60	Mechanical Engineers	$105,770	$70,480	300
61	Computer Programmers	$105,750	$55,860	160
62	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$104,330	$54,880	320
63	Geoscientists (Except Hydrologists and Geographers)	$104,270	$47,490	90
64	Sales Managers	$104,170	$50,170	1,050
65	Veterinarians	$104,120	$60,940	120
66	Civil Engineers	$103,810	$68,020	330
67	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$103,800	$84,440	90
68	Postsecondary Art, Drama, and Music Teachers	$103,800	$62,910	110
69	Urban and Regional Planners	$103,780	$63,490	140
70	Computer Network Architects	$103,570	$63,260	220
71	Firefighters	$103,460	$51,360	400
72	Technical Writers	$103,280	$68,780	50
73	Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy Teachers and Instructors	$103,020	$61,770	40
74	General and Operations Managers	$102,750	$55,140	3,090
75	Occupational Therapists	$102,180	$71,920	120
76	Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists	$101,930	$84,270	230
77	Radiologic Technologists	$101,530	$63,500	210
78	Computer Occupations, All Other	$101,440	$52,720	630
79	Budget Analysts	$100,890	$62,920	130
80	Project Management Specialists	$100,190	$58,870	900
81	Facilities Managers	$99,990	$65,020	230
82	Materials Engineers	$99,370	$45,170	30
83	Surveyors	$99,020	$57,100	50
84	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$98,800	$68,600	440
85	Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	$97,620	$52,140	100
86	Respiratory Therapists	$97,330	$66,340	130
87	Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers	$97,160	$32,510	70
88	Other Biological Scientists	$96,430	$51,290	90
89	Commercial Pilots	$96,430	$64,340	80
90	Financial Risk Specialists	$96,270	$51,420	40
91	Writers and Authors	$96,210	$43,300	60
92	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$93,840	$58,340	220
93	Architects (Except Landscape and Naval)	$93,280	$62,470	230
94	Credit Analysts	$92,730	$47,860	90
95	Construction and Building Inspectors	$90,380	$49,060	150
96	Environmental Scientists and Health Specialists	$90,110	$60,420	130
97	Administrative Services Managers	$89,980	$59,150	400
98	Web Developers	$89,750	$57,890	80
99	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$86,710	$57,280	50
100	Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	$86,700	$58,310	70

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Chief Executives	$175,390
2	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$165,600
3	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$165,510
4	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$163,650
5	Computer Hardware Engineers	$160,230
6	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$156,770
7	Pharmacists	$153,480
8	Marketing Managers	$139,940
9	All Other Managers	$137,480
10	Financial Managers	$134,880

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$207,980
2	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$175,810
3	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$169,670
4	Chief Executives	$164,240
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$163,080
6	Purchasing Managers	$153,810
7	Pharmacists	$152,700
8	General Dentists	$145,530
9	Veterinarians	$137,030
10	Nurse Practitioners	$136,560

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$198,900
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$197,890
3	Chief Executives	$176,760
4	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$166,480
5	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$164,860
6	Veterinarians	$162,350
7	All Other Physicians; and Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$161,900
8	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$156,780
9	Pharmacists	$152,240
10	Marketing Managers	$145,620

Also see The most popular jobs in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA.

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