What Maintenance and Repair Workers, General earn in Santa Clara County, CA
The median pay for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Santa Clara County, CA is $63,220 per year, which works out to $30.39 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area, the labor market that Santa Clara County, CA belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $69,440, which is 9.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,750 people working in this occupation across the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Santa Clara County, CA has roughly 1,902,047 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $46,680 a year ($22.44 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $99,430 or more ($47.80 an hour). That is a gap of $52,750 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $51,550 at the 25th percentile and $80,120 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $30.39 an hour or $63,220 a year at the median for Santa Clara County, CA. Before any deductions, that is $5,268 a month, $2,432 every two weeks and $1,216 each week. After taxes the same job pays $24.52 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Maintenance and Repair Workers, General this way: "Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of a building in repair. Duties may involve pipe fitting; HVAC maintenance; insulating; welding; machining; carpentry; repairing electrical or mechanical equipment; installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment; and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Assemble, install, or repair wiring, electrical or electronic components, pipe systems, plumbing, machinery, or equipment"; "Diagnose mechanical problems and determine how to correct them, checking blueprints, repair manuals, or parts catalogs, as necessary"; "Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions"; "Record type and cost of maintenance or repair work".
Job outlook for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,621,800 jobs in 2025 to 1,690,500 in 2035, a change of +4.2%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 148,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.2% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $49,590 for this occupation; the Santa Clara County, CA median of $63,220 is 27.5% above it.
How pay in Santa Clara County, CA compares
Compared with the California average
A worker in this occupation in Santa Clara County, CA earns $6,471 more than the California average of $56,749, a premium of 11.4%. Over a year that premium is worth $6,471 before tax and roughly $5,220 after tax. Within California, the highest median we track for this job is $63,630 in Alameda County, CA.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General is $51,159 across the contiguous United States. At $63,220, Santa Clara County, CA pays $12,061 more, which is 23.6% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Santa Clara County, CA
Among the 507 occupations with published wages in Santa Clara County, CA, Maintenance and Repair Workers, General ranks number 330 by median pay, ahead of about 35% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $291,660 a year, which is $228,440 more than the median for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Maintenance and Repair Workers, General earning the Santa Clara County, CA median of $63,220, they add up to $12,220. The result is $51,000 of take-home pay a year ($4,250 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $47,470. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $5,458, an effective 8.6% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $3,920 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $917. FICA totals $4,836, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in California
California income tax on this salary is $1,926 a year, or 3.0% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 35% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $160 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Santa Clara County, CA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Santa Clara County, CA show an average adjusted gross income of $216,171 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 21.2% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.7%, compared with the 8.6% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Santa Clara County, CA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Santa Clara County, CA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $51,000 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Santa Clara County, CA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,778 a month ($33,336 a year), and at $3,272 for two bedrooms. For Maintenance and Repair Workers, General, a one-bedroom absorbs 65.4% of take-home pay and 52.7% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 5.4% of gross pay for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Santa Clara County, CA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using California residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,378 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $751, for $4,129 in total. Gasoline in California averages $4.42 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $2,047.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $42,947 a year in Santa Clara County, CA. Subtract that from $51,000 of take-home pay and $8,053 remains, which is $671 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 12.7% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Santa Clara County, CA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Santa Clara County, CA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Santa Clara County, CA, set beside the California and national medians.
Property taxes in Santa Clara County, CA
Homeowners in Santa Clara County, CA pay a median of $10,001 a year in real estate taxes, 95% above the California median of $5,124 and 221% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $1,490,600, the median tax bill is 0.67% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Maintenance and Repair Workers, General median of $63,220, a tax bill of that size would equal 15.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Santa Clara County, CA
Renters in Santa Clara County, CA pay a median gross rent of $2,857 a month in the Census survey, 40% above the California median of $2,036. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,778 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $1,490,600, 103% above the California median of $734,700. Median household income is $164,281, 66% above the California median of $99,122, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.3% of that income.
Commuting in Santa Clara County, CA
Workers in Santa Clara County, CA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.2 minutes each way, 9% below the California average of 28.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.4 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 23.9% of workers in Santa Clara County, CA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Maintenance and Repair Workers, General afford to live in Santa Clara County, CA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $63,220 that ceiling is $1,580 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,778 is $1,198 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $53.42 an hour; the median for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General is $30.39, which is 43% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $24.52 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 26.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $3,272 a month means $1,636 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $13,704 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $21,757.
How fast you can save
At $671 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 15 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 30 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Maintenance and Repair Workers, General pay in Santa Clara County, CA
How much do Maintenance and Repair Workers, General make per hour in Santa Clara County, CA?
The median is $30.39 per hour, based on $63,220 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $22.44 at the 10th percentile to $47.80 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Maintenance and Repair Workers, General take home after taxes in Santa Clara County, CA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $63,220 becomes $51,000 a year. That is $4,250 a month, $1,962 every two weeks or $981 a week.
How much tax do Maintenance and Repair Workers, General pay in Santa Clara County, CA?
Total taxes are $12,220 a year, an effective rate of 19.3%: $5,458 federal income tax, $4,836 FICA and $1,926 California income tax.
Do Maintenance and Repair Workers, General earn more in Santa Clara County, CA than elsewhere in California?
Yes. The local median of $63,220 is +11.4% versus the California average of $56,749, a difference of $6,471 a year.
Can Maintenance and Repair Workers, General afford a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County, CA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,778 a month against take-home pay of $4,250, which is 65.4% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,580 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Santa Clara County, CA?
About $671 a month ($8,053 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $42,947 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Santa Clara County, CA at the 30% guideline?
$53.42 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $33,336 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General is $30.39.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the California rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.