Optometrist Salary in California 2026,
$136,300 Median | BLS Data by City

California optometrists earn a median $136,300 a year, $65.53 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $122,960 and $166,300 and a full range of $99,890 to $213,710. That is level with the $136,570 national median, which is notable in a state with California's cost base.

Santa Rosa-Petaluma at $165,360, then Vallejo at $155,950, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at $142,580, Santa Maria-Santa Barbara at $140,160 and Chico at $139,890. The two leaders are smaller Northern California markets with older populations and fewer practitioners, not the state's largest metros.

Through the California State Board of Optometry, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. You need an accredited Doctor of Optometry degree, the National Board of Examiners in Optometry examination sequence and the California Laws and Regulations examination. Therapeutic pharmaceutical agent certification and glaucoma certification are separate additional credentials issued by the Board.

It is an additional Board certification permitting a California optometrist to diagnose and treat glaucoma independently, requiring specified education and, historically, case management requirements beyond the base licence and therapeutic certification. California built its optometric scope in layers rather than granting it all at licensure, and glaucoma certification is the top rung — and the one most closely associated with the upper part of this pay distribution.

Supply. California trains and retains about one in six American optometrists, at a location quotient of 1.37 across roughly 6,890 practitioners, which is more than its population share. In a profession where demand is broadly proportional to population, that surplus keeps the middle of the market competitive — and it is why the premiums appear in smaller markets like Santa Rosa-Petaluma rather than in the big cities.

Because optometrist density there is lower and the patient population older. Santa Rosa-Petaluma at $165,360 and Vallejo at $155,950 serve populations with substantial glaucoma, cataract and diabetic eye care needs while sitting outside the areas where California's optometry graduates concentrate. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at $142,580 has more optometrists competing for a younger patient base, and the pay reflects it.

It mixes employment models that OEWS handles unevenly. Salaried retail associates, private-practice associates on production bonuses and practice owners drawing profit all appear in this row, and owner income in particular is captured inconsistently. The $213,710 ninetieth percentile is best read as the top of the employed distribution rather than as what a successful California practice owner actually earns.

Closely. A California optometrist without therapeutic certification is confined largely to refraction and dispensing, which is retail-rate work near the $122,960 twenty-fifth percentile. Therapeutic certification opens treatment of ocular disease; glaucoma certification opens independent management of the single most common chronic eye condition in an ageing population. Each step widens billable medical scope, and the $166,300 seventy-fifth percentile essentially requires the full ladder.