According to the 2010 US Census, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose are the largest cities in California, but the top employers are in other cities. Chevron in San Ramon, Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto and McKesson in San Francisco are the state's leading employers. Employment-wise, California is one of the most diverse states, offering a range of jobs from high tech to low tech.

Career Opportunities in California

In most industries, workers benefit from having postsecondary education certifications or degrees. For example, one of California's main industries is agriculture, and workers can choose from several industry-related two-year associate degrees, such as agricultural and food science technicians, forest and conservation technicians, and veterinary technicians. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that, in 2011, retail salespersons and cashiers had the highest employment numbers, but these are low paying jobs. Workers with supervisory management certifications or associate degrees had elevated wages and benefits. For example, the mean annual wages for retail salespersons was $26,020 and for cashiers $23,450. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers, who had postsecondary education, had an average wage of $43,360.

In the high tech industries, workers generally need a bachelor degree or higher, but some entry-level jobs require an associate degree or less. Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems, eBay and PayPal have their headquarters in the state and need a variety of jobs from salespersons to computer specialists. Although companies like these need highly educated specialists, some entry-level jobs, like computer support specialists, generally need a two-year associate degree. The BLS reports that in 2011, California had approximately 67,880 computer support specialists with a mean annual wage of $59,050, putting the state at the highest national employment for specialists.

Here are other top paying regions in the state, with employment numbers and wages from the BLS report:

• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area $73,350 
• San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City area $69,660 
• Oakland-Fremont-Hayward area $65,130 
• Salinas $63,120 
• North Valley Region of California nonmetropolitan area $52,800