Radiologist Salary in California 2026, $270,560 Median | BLS Data by City
This is a page where the honest reading of the data matters more than the headline: BLS counts only 690 radiologists in California, a fraction of the state's real radiology workforce, because most are paid through partnerships and physician groups that the wage survey does not capture as employees.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Karen Osei, RN, BSN, Clinical Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
CA Median
$270,560
$130.08/hr
vs National
−$150,300
35.7% below US median
CA P90
$499,880
$240.33/hr · top earners
CA Job Growth
+2.7%
2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34
🤑California's income tax reaches 13.3% at the top and applies to essentially all of a radiologist's income at these levels, plus the 1.3% SDI premium on wages with no cap in 2026. For a physician earning near the top of this range, California's tax is among the largest single line items in the household budget and is a genuine factor in why some radiologists structure their practice through partnerships rather than employment, or take remote reading work domiciled elsewhere.
Direct Answer
How much do radiologists make in California in 2026?
The BLS OEWS May 2025 California median for radiologists is $270,560, 35.7% below the national median of $420,860 — but that figure rests on a survey count of just 690 radiologists statewide, and the percentile spread tells you why it should be read carefully: $96,610 at the 10th percentile against $499,880 at the 90th. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, the one large California metro with a published figure, reports $488,670, far above the statewide number, while San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont reports $106,000. → Full radiologist career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $270,560 blends every experience level, apprentice through master. For pay by license level alone, see pay by level below.
Key takeaways
California radiologists earn a median $270,560/yr ($130.08/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1224), 35.7% below the $420,860 national median; the state P10–P90 range is $96,610 to $499,880.
BLS surveys only 690 California radiologists, giving the state a radiologist concentration far below the national average — not because California has few radiologists, but because most are not captured as employees on an establishment payroll.
The metro rows contradict the state median in a way that should make you cautious: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim reports $488,670 while San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont reports $106,000, a gap no real labour market produces.
The percentile spread, from $96,610 to $499,880, reflects a survey capturing both part-time or academic appointments and full partnership-track employed positions in the same series.
California Radiologist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
$96,610
P10
$106,000
P25
$270,560
Median
$496,790
P75
$499,880
P90
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Methodology & Sources
How the California radiologist pay figures on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1224, California statewide estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them. OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation in California; it does not break pay out by credential or licence level.
Pay by level: the level and career-stage tables on this page distribute California's own published BLS pay range across the tiers employers actually hire at. They are GlobalCybers estimates aligned to published percentiles, not separate BLS publications.
Placement sample: GlobalCybers holds no California placement sample for this occupation, so this page shows published and percentile-aligned figures only — no placement-based median is claimed anywhere on it.
How to become a licensed radiologist in California, step by step
1
Complete residency and board certification
Finish a diagnostic radiology residency and obtain American Board of Radiology certification, then licence with the Medical Board of California.
2
Compare against group and society data, not only OEWS
Because this survey misses partnership income, benchmark offers against radiology group and specialty society compensation data as well as the figures on this page.
3
Subspecialise
Add a fellowship in interventional radiology, neuroradiology, breast imaging or another subspecialty, which is what distinguishes the upper part of any California radiology compensation range.
4
Weigh employment against partnership track
Evaluate employed hospital positions against partnership-track group positions explicitly, since the two are compensated through different mechanisms and only one of them appears in this survey.
MBC License Levels
How much do the radiologist credential levels pay in California?
California licenses issued by MBC (Medical Board of California), which licenses all physicians and surgeons practising in the state, with radiology subspecialty certification held through the American Board of Radiology. Each level's median pay in California markets.
MBC License
CA Pay Range
CA Median
Key Note
Early-career or part-time appointment
$89K–$106K
$96,610
Around the surveyed 10th percentile. Academic, part-time or first-year appointments captured at their actual annual wage, which is why this figure sits so far below full-time practice.
Surveyed statewide median
$106K–$497K
$270,560
The California median in this survey. It blends academic, hospital-employed and part-time appointments and is materially below what a full-time employed diagnostic radiologist in a California group typically earns.
Established employed radiologist
$472K–$500K
$496,790
The surveyed 75th percentile. Full-time employed diagnostic radiology in a hospital or large group, which is closer to what most practising California radiologists would recognise.
Senior or subspecialty radiologist
$480K–$610K
$499,880
The surveyed 90th percentile. Senior, subspecialty and high-volume employed radiologists, including interventional and neuroradiology practice.
Beyond Base Pay
What's a California radiologist's total compensation, not just base wage?
BLS and verified-placement medians above are base wage only. Total comp for a CA radiologist typically adds the following on top.
California Radiologist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
How much do radiologists make in California?
The BLS OEWS May 2025 California figure is a median of $270,560, with a range from $96,610 at the 10th percentile to $499,880 at the 90th. It is based on a surveyed count of 690 radiologists, so it should be treated as a partial view of the specialty in this state rather than as a comprehensive salary benchmark.
Which California city pays radiologists the most?
Among California metros with published figures, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim reports $488,670 and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont reports $106,000, with the statewide figure of $270,560 sitting between them. That spread is a sampling artefact rather than a real market difference, and it is the clearest evidence on this page that the underlying survey coverage for this specialty is thin.
Why is the California radiologist median so far below the national one?
Because of who gets surveyed, not because California underpays radiologists. OEWS collects wages from establishments for employees on their payroll. A large share of American radiology is practised through independent physician groups and partnerships whose members are not payroll employees, and California has a particularly high concentration of that model. What remains in the survey skews toward academic and part-time appointments.
How should a radiologist use this page then?
As a floor and a caution rather than a benchmark. The metro figure for Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim at $488,670 and the state 90th percentile of $499,880 are the rows that most resemble full-time employed practice. For partnership compensation, specialty society and group-specific surveys are a better source than an establishment wage survey.
How does California compare with other states in this survey?
Colorado reports $344,270, Georgia $335,190, Texas $319,320, Kentucky $279,990 and Ohio $260,000. California sits low in that group on the surveyed median, which again reflects survey coverage rather than the market: states where hospital employment of radiologists is more common report higher medians than states where partnership practice dominates.
What exactly is OEWS missing here?
Partnership and independent-contractor income. The survey asks establishments what they pay employees. A radiologist who is a partner in an independent group draws profit distributions rather than a payroll wage, and does not appear. Neither does a radiologist reading remotely as a contractor. In a specialty where those arrangements are common, the surveyed population is a biased subset — younger, more academic and more likely to be part-time.
Why publish the page at all if the figure is unrepresentative?
Because the figure is real and it is the number people find when they search, so the useful thing is to explain it rather than to leave it uncontextualised. Everything on this page comes from the BLS state and metropolitan files for SOC 29-1224. What we have added is the sample size, the percentile spread and the metro contradiction, which together let a reader judge the number properly.
Does California's low surveyed concentration mean anything real?
One thing: it confirms the practice-model story. California has a large radiology workforce serving a large population, so a surveyed count of 690 with a location quotient far below the national average is a statement about employment structure, not about clinical capacity. States with hospital-employed radiology models show much higher surveyed concentrations for the same population.
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Outlook & openings: BLS projects 2.7% national growth for radiologists through 2034, and California's surveyed share of national employment works out to roughly 20 openings a year, pro-rated from the national average annual openings figure. That figure should be read as what the survey covers rather than as California's true hiring volume: teleradiology and physician-group employment are reshaping the specialty faster than an establishment-based wage survey can track.
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