Diesel mechanic salary in Salinas, CA
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Diesel mechanics in the Salinas, CA area earn a median of $63,840 a year, or $30.69 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $93,770. Across all of California, the median is $73,950, so Salinas pays 14% less than the state as a whole.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $18.62/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 200
- After cost of living
- $58,550
- Median hourly pay
- $30.69/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +3%
- vs California median
- −14%
- Mean (average) pay
- $65,720 a year · $31.60 an hour
Pay by percentile
What diesel mechanics in Salinas, CA earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.
| Percentile | Hourly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.62 | $38,730 |
| 25th percentile | $23.28 | $48,420 |
| Median (50th) | $30.69 | $63,840 |
| 75th percentile | $39.48 | $82,120 |
| 90th percentile | $45.08 | $93,770 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Salinas, CA compares
- Salinas ranks 20th of 25 California metro areas for diesel mechanic pay.
- Diesel mechanics are less concentrated in the Salinas area than nationally: 1.0 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.56 times the U.S. share.
Other California metro areas
Other trades in Salinas, CA
Questions
- Do diesel mechanics make more in Salinas or San Francisco?
- San Francisco pays more: the median is $63,840 in Salinas and $82,100 in San Francisco, a 22% difference.
About this data
Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 49-3031 (Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists), area code 41500 (Salinas, CA). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed diesel mechanics and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (109.0, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures