California public employers · 2026 pay · 14 people
How much does a structural engineer make in California public employers?
$176,331typical pay for a structural engineer in 2026
$148,424 – $178,789what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2026, including part-year workers. Each employer counts with its latest published year (2025 or 2026). Typical pay rose 2.1% from the same employers' year before.
✓ Official data from 4 agencies · Matches each agency's latest release · Show sourcesHide sources
- LA City Controller · controller.lacity.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- SF Controller's Office · sf.gov ↗
- LA County Auditor-Controller · lacounty.gov ↗
Where structural engineers work
Typical pay at each employer, 2026 (everyone paid).
Related jobs and the next step up
Same line of work at a different rank, by typical pay (full-year employees where we can tell).
- Senior Structural Engineer$173,009 (everyone)
- Structural Engineer (this page)$176,331 (everyone)
- Principal Structural Engineer$186,121 (everyone)
- Supervising Structural Engineer$188,561 (everyone)
Highest-paid structural engineers, 2026
- 1John Y LuStructural Engineer · Los Angeles County$323,580
- 2John SprinkleStructural Engineer · San Francisco$237,547
- 3Howard ZeeStructural Engineer · San Francisco$237,547
- 4Hok Chi ChiuStructural Engineer · Los Angeles$178,982
- 5Erwin PascuaStructural Engineer · Los Angeles$178,211
Common questions
How much does a structural engineer make in California public employers?
The typical structural engineer was paid $176,331 in 2026; most earned between $148,424 and $178,789. This counts all 14 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 1.1% of all pay for structural engineers in 2026.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Structural Engineer, at any level (for example "Structural Engineer"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.
Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this