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Jobs in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA area: pay, hiring and remote work
The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area has 1,452 open job postings from 320 employers in our data. 50.9% list a pay range, the median posted pay is $137,500 a year, 7.1% are remote and 31.7% have been open more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $137,500 posted salary in the San Diego area buys about what $123,000 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 12% above the national average.
- Housing costs run 79% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- 50.9% of open job postings list a pay range, 12th of 99 metro areas.
- 7.1% of postings are remote, 21st highest of 99 metro areas.
- 10.4% of postings are entry-level, 82nd of 99 metro areas.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 4.9% in 2026-08 (5.1% a year earlier) (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Across California, employers had 674,000 job openings in 2025-12, an openings rate of 3.6% (BLS JOLTS). Indeed's own measure of job postings in the metro area is 8.2% below its February 2020 level and 4.2% higher than a year ago (Indeed Hiring Lab, 2026-10-02).
City by city inside the metro area
| Place | Postings | Employers | Pay listed | Median posted pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, CA | 1082 | 279 | 54.8% | $150,000 |
| Carlsbad, CA | 109 | 31 | 47.6% | $101,500 |
| Escondido, CA | 58 | 17 | 58.8% | $93,500 |
| Oceanside, CA | 38 | 13 | n/a | – |
| Vista, CA | 36 | 7 | n/a | – |
| San Marcos, CA | 29 | 17 | n/a | – |
| Chula Vista, CA | 25 | 12 | n/a | – |
| Encinitas, CA | 23 | 7 | n/a | – |
| El Cajon, CA | 15 | 7 | 69.2% | – |
Places with at least 15 postings from 3 employers. Shading shows where median posted pay is higher. Pay figures need 8 postings with pay.
City pages: San Diego.
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $189,000 36 postings | software developers | $163,500 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area. Posted pay is the middle of the ranges in open postings, so the two measure different things: pay for open jobs versus pay for everyone already employed.
Posted pay by kind of job
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $189,000 | 36 |
| Marketing | $180,000 | 11 |
| Software engineering | $177,500 | 30 |
| Legal and compliance | $175,000 | 22 |
| Operations and logistics | $165,500 | 18 |
| Security and IT | $147,000 | 10 |
| Product and design | $143,500 | 15 |
| Nursing and clinical care | $133,500 | 16 |
| Engineering (other) | $129,500 | 15 |
| Sales | $80,000 | 78 |
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Software & Technology | 289 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 267 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 160 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 153 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 134 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 99 |
| Other | 98 |
| Financial Services | 82 |
| Education | 64 |
| Media & Entertainment | 48 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 26 |
Employers with the most openings
- Shieldai: 68 postings
- Boxlunch: 64 postings
- Asml: 50 postings
- Leidos: 47 postings
- Nus: 29 postings
Federal government hiring
243 federal job announcements open to the public list San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA, with a median posted salary range midpoint of $99,500. Agencies hiring most: Commander, Navy Installations Command (33), Department of the Navy Headquarters (30), Military Treatment Facilities under DHA (24), Federal Aviation Administration (17), U.S. Marine Corps (17). Source: USAJOBS, 2026-10-10.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA area run 12% above the national average, and housing runs 79% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $58,500, which is worth $52,500 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $137,500 is worth $123,000.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 50.9% | $137,500 | $58,500 | 111.9 | $52,500 |
| Denver | 63.7% | $144,000 | $62,500 | 105.8 | $59,000 |
| Tampa | 19.3% | $115,000 | $49,000 | 100.9 | $48,500 |
| Orlando | 17.6% | $102,000 | $46,500 | 101.4 | $46,000 |
| Riverside | 48.9% | $106,500 | $48,500 | 106.4 | $45,500 |
| Charlotte | 24.5% | $127,500 | $50,000 | 97.3 | $51,500 |
| St. Louis | 19.7% | $122,500 | $50,000 | 95.1 | $52,500 |
Compare any metro areas side by side
Download this data
Free to use with credit: Second Summit, October 2026. Data (CSV) · Data (JSON) · paycheck power chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
Related pages
- State pages: California
- Compare San Diego with other metro areas
- Paycheck calculator: what a salary in San Diego is worth elsewhere
Where it ranks
A posting that lists several places counts once in the metro. Metro areas are the Census Bureau's 2023 definitions. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in the area. Methodology · All metro areas (CSV)