Salaries in Livermore, CA

Livermore feels like one of those California secrets that’s about to get out. You’ve got a median household income of $151,705, which sounds fantastic, but the city’s cost of living sits at 118.2—nearly 20% above the national average. It’s a classic boomtown paradox: people are earning more, but their money doesn’t stretch as far as they’d hope.

That $151k median is a mirage if you’re not in the right job. For a single person, that $2,304 monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment eats up a huge chunk of take-home pay. The COL-adjusted numbers tell the real story. An accountant making $90,779 here feels the pinch of someone earning $76,801 nationally. It’s not a cheap place to build wealth unless you’re in the absolute top tier of earners.

So, who’s actually thriving? It’s the tech and energy sectors. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the giant in the room, and it pulls in a lot of high-paid research and engineering talent. That fuels the demand for top-paying jobs like software developers, who average $134,208. The wine industry also adds a layer of hospitality and management jobs, but the real financial engine is the lab and its spin-offs.

Here’s my honest take: wages aren’t keeping up with the cost creep. The average salary across all roles is just $57,352, which gets slashed to an adjusted $48,521. That’s a tough squeeze. This city works well for dual-income households, especially if one person is in tech or engineering, and for empty-nesters who bought in years ago. For everyone else, it’s a grind.

The data below breaks down exactly how much the top occupations pay, both in raw numbers and in what you can actually buy with them.