Payroll Specialist salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA

Pay in Los Angeles-Long Beach against California and the US

The middle half of payroll specialists in Los Angeles-Long Beach earns $59,810–$78,160. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $88,640, only 1.8 times the bottom tenth, against 2.1 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $18,350 wide, against $22,640 across California and $21,610 nationally: employers in Los Angeles-Long Beach pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a payroll specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $13,120 over the median, the 25th only $5,230 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $16,929 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $58,260 falls between the 10th and 25th percentiles in Los Angeles-Long Beach, and the California statewide median of $65,340 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would be lower than what three quarters of local payroll specialists earn.

What a hire really costs in Los Angeles-Long Beach

At the $65,040 median, a local hire costs about $83,923 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,883 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for payroll specialists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Los Angeles-Long Beach

Of the 17 roles we track in Los Angeles-Long Beach, this one ranks #9 by median pay, between paralegals ($77,520) and bookkeepers ($58,590). Project Coordinator is the highest at $108,310.

Measured against the US median, payroll specialists rank #10 of the 17 roles we track in Los Angeles-Long Beach (+11.6%), between medical administrative assistants (+11.9%) and office managers (+11.6%). The typical role here is at +11.9%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Payroll specialists hold 1.1% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Los Angeles-Long Beach, 1.2% across California and 1.0% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in California

Across the 28 areas of California with data for this job, the median runs from $54,890 in Visalia to $80,510 in San Francisco-Oakland, a gap of $25,620 a year. No other area in California has as many payroll specialists, and 22 of the other 27 pay less.

Los Angeles-Long Beach against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Los Angeles-Long Beach is #2 of 482 US areas, one of the ten largest markets for this job. Outside California, New Haven and Olympia-Lacey pay just above Los Angeles-Long Beach and Bellingham and Denver-Aurora just below. All four are within $750 a year of the median in Los Angeles-Long Beach. Of the three markets closest in size, none pays as much.

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Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.