Optometrists in California 2,662 establishments · 16,313 employees · 2024
Firms (CA)
2,662
Employment
16,313
Avg Annual Pay
$52,288
State Rank
#1 of 52
How California compares to national
Metric
California
National
California vs. U.S.
Establishments
2,662
21,552
12.4% of U.S. total
Avg annual pay
$52,288
$53,861
-$1,573 (-2.9%)
Location quotient
0.81
1.00
19% less dense than national
Avg firm size (employees)
6.1
7.1
—
Year-over-year firm growth
+2.1%
—
—
Reading this
An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted. A firm with multiple locations counts as multiple establishments. "Avg pay" is wages and salaries per employee, including bonuses and tips — for proprietorships, the owner's take is largely outside this number. The location quotient (LQ) of 0.81 means optometrists are 19% under-represented in California's business mix relative to the U.S. average.
Source. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — 2024 annual averages, private-ownership only, NAICS 621320. Establishment counts include any firm with at least one paid employee covered by state unemployment insurance.
SMB Density · firm counts, employment, and wages by industry × state · data from BLS QCEW 2024 annual (private ownership, state-level; mostly 6-digit NAICS, 3 specialty-trade industries at 5-digit aggregation) · data.json