Women Dentists in California: Pay, Gap, and Numbers
Women have grown from 1% of dentists in 1980 to 36% today; specialty sorting drives most of the pay gap. This page applies California’s overall wage environment to the national BLS median earnings for dentists to estimate the state-level pay gap.
Earnings estimate — Dentists in California
Methodology: The state pay gap is estimated by applying California’s overall female-to-male earnings ratio adjustment (+6.2% vs national) to the national BLS median for female dentists. See Pay Gap Lookup for interactive comparison.
National baseline
California context
California’s overall women-to-men earnings ratio is 89.0%, ranking #2 of 51 US jurisdictions on pay equity. 32.5% of the state legislature is women (CAWP 2024); 19 women from California serve in the 119th US Congress. No woman has been elected governor of California.
Other professions in California
Women dentists in neighboring & key states
Related pages
Frequently asked
What is the median salary for female dentists in California?
Estimated at $113,436 per year, derived from the BLS national median for female dentists ($106,808) adjusted by California’s overall wage environment (+6.2% vs national).
What is the pay gap for dentists in California?
Estimated at 21.8%, or about $31,540 per year per worker at the median. This applies the state-level wage environment to the national BLS profession gap.
How does California compare nationally on pay equity?
California ranks #2 of 51 US jurisdictions on the overall female-to-men earnings ratio (Census ACS S2001).
What BLS occupation code applies here?
29-1020 (SOC, Standard Occupational Classification, 2018 revision). See BLS CPS Table 39 for the current national median weekly earnings.
Are these numbers adjusted for experience?
No — these are state-level medians across all experience levels. Use the Pay Gap Lookup tool for experience-adjusted estimates.