Payroll Specialist salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, CA

Pay in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks against California and the US

The middle half of payroll specialists in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks earns $52,520–$72,630. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $82,620, 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 $20,110 wide, against $22,640 across California and $21,610 nationally: employers in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a payroll specialist here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $8,790 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $11,320, or about $14,606 once benefits are added. 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 25th percentile and the median in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, and the California statewide median of $65,340 falls between the median and the 75th percentile.

What a hire really costs in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks

At the $61,310 median, a local hire costs about $79,110 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $17,800 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 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks

Of the 17 roles we track in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, this one ranks #9 by median pay, between sales development representatives ($64,670) and HR assistants ($58,140). Project Coordinator is the highest at $104,990.

Measured against the US median, payroll specialists rank #13 of the 17 roles we track in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks (+5.2%), between office managers (+5.4%) and project coordinators (+2.6%). The typical role here is at +8.0%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Payroll specialists hold 1.2% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, 1.2% across California and 1.0% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

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. Of the 9 areas in California with more payroll specialists than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, 4 pay less, the largest of them Riverside-San Bernardino, CA ($61,200), Fresno, CA ($59,730) and Bakersfield-Delano, CA ($56,650).

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Oxnard-Thousand Oaks is #72 of 482 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside California, Lansing-East Lansing and Salem pay just above Oxnard-Thousand Oaks and Kalamazoo-Portage and Colorado Springs just below. All four are within $280 a year of the median in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks. Of the three markets with about as many payroll specialists, none pays as much.

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