Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in California earn a median of $64,890 a year (31% above the U.S. median of $49,690), based on about 13,930 jobs. Pay for the same job differs a lot by employer, experience, industry and city within California. These are wages of employees in the occupation, not a forecast for any individual.
Median annual pay
$64,890
31% above the U.S. median of $49,690
Average annual pay
$66,300
Mean wage
Pay range
$45,970–$90,370
10th to 90th percentile
Jobs in the state
13,930
Employees, May 2025
Median hourly pay
$31.20
Before taxes
The state's price level is 110.7 (U.S. average = 100), so a median of $64,890 here equals roughly $58,618 after adjusting for the state's price level.
Explore more: refuse and recyclable material collectors salary in every state · about this career · California earnings by education and major · California counties
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, state estimates (employees only; self-employed workers are not included); price-level adjustment uses the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (where 100 is the U.S. average; MajorPays' calculation). Wages are for an occupation in a state as a whole and vary widely by employer, experience, industry and place within the state. MajorPays selected and reorganized these figures; neither agency has approved or endorsed this presentation. See Data sources for each dataset's terms.