California · 2025 pay · 48 people
How much does a systems engineer make in California?
$105,886typical pay for a systems engineer in 2025
$92,885 – $128,368what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2025, including part-year workers. Typical pay fell 0.1% from 2024.
✓ Official data from 5 agencies · Matches each agency's latest release · Show sourcesHide sources
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
Where systems engineers work
Typical pay at each employer, 2025 (everyone paid).
- City of Sacramento10 people$103,607
- North County Transit District7 people$79,993
- Riverside County Superior Court6 people$133,984
- City of Modesto3 people$104,597
- City of Merced3 people$140,376
- Omnitrans2 people$71,751
- Sierra View Local Health Care District2 people$90,323
- City of West Hollywood2 people$172,657
- Mt. San Jacinto Community College District2 people$101,665
- Madera County2 people$98,708
- Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District1 person$79,184
- Lompoc Hospital District1 person$106,624
- Marin Community College District1 person$173,747
- Peninsula Library System District1 person$128,894
- City of Glendale1 person$113,674
- City of Alhambra1 person$149,845
- Sacramento Regional Public Safety Communications Center1 person$131,711
- City of Burbank1 person$136,757
- City of Corona1 person$83,171
No employers match.
Pay by level
Levels with 5 or more people.
- Systems Engineer I5 people$79,993
- Systems Engineer24 people$105,886
- Systems Engineer II19 people$115,713
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).
- Systems Engineer (this page)$105,886 (everyone)
- Senior Systems Engineer$125,390 (everyone)
- Principal Systems Engineer$141,351 (everyone)
Highest-paid systems engineers, 2025
Common questions
How much does a systems engineer make in California?
The typical systems engineer was paid $105,886 in 2025; most earned between $92,885 and $128,368. This counts all 48 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 1.9% of all pay for systems engineers in 2025.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Systems Engineer, at any level (for example "Systems Engineer I"). 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