Compared with the local labor market
Attorney III pay vs. California
Across all employers in California, the median wage for Lawyers — about 95,770 people — is $195,080. State Public Defender pays a median base salary of $154,033 for this role, 21% below that figure — about the 34th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where State Public Defender sits in the local pay range
$97,950
$131,120
$195,080
$277,140
$369,180
State Public Defender median · $154,033
The bar is the range of annual wages for Lawyers across every employer in California, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows State Public Defender’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Lawyers — about 754,500 people — is $159,670. State Public Defender’s median base salary is 4% below that national figure, about the 48th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$78,360
$102,990
$159,670
$221,370
$351,600
State Public Defender median · $154,033
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the California range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at State Public Defender is $156,435, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Attorney beyond California
This role is reported in 14 jurisdictions. In California, the median of $150,234 ranks #2 of 14. See Attorney across all of California →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Attorneyroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.