San Diego pays below most of California for this role, though still within a normal range for the state. That's noticeably below the national average for materials scientists, worth factoring into any relocation math. Cost of living here runs meaningfully above the national average. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.
Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: San Diego ranks #6 for cost of living and #6 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.
| City | Mean salary | vs. San Diego |
|---|---|---|
| Albany, New York | $138,310 | +34.4% |
| Baltimore, Maryland | $106,790 | +3.8% |
| Chicago, Illinois | $140,350 | +36.4% |
| College Station, Texas | $60,280 | -41.4% |
| Dallas, Texas | $101,100 | -1.8% |
| Detroit, Michigan | $124,000 | +20.5% |
| Houston, Texas | $88,340 | -14.2% |
| Los Angeles, California | $154,850 | +50.5% |
| Louisville, Kentucky | $70,150 | -31.8% |
| New York, New York | $123,720 | +20.2% |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $127,130 | +23.5% |
| Portland, Oregon | $151,750 | +47.4% |
| Riverside, California | $129,240 | +25.6% |
| Rochester, New York | $115,060 | +11.8% |
| San Francisco, California | $225,960 | +119.5% |
| San Jose, California | $225,780 | +119.4% |
| Seattle, Washington | $142,280 | +38.2% |
| Trenton, New Jersey | $117,670 | +14.3% |
Single filer, federal + California state tax + FICA, 2025 rates. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.
These notes add local color around San Diego, California: comfort ranges, budget constraints and location trade-offs reported in public discussions.
Discussion highlights that calculators may imply roughly 2x gross income for comparable standard of living, while some employers offer only about 10% location premiums. Tech total compensation can be an exception, so the page should distinguish salary from total compensation.
Anecdotal public-discussion signals, not official salary data, rent data or financial advice. Read this alongside the official figures on the page.
Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.
The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.
Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.
