top 12 jobs and growing industries in sacramento, california.

As the capital of California and the fastest-growing major city in the state, it’s no wonder Sacramento has a hot job market. You’ll find a reliable concentration of traditional fields here, such as law, accounting and education (there are 10-plus colleges in the area, including Sacramento State and UC Davis). But up-and-coming industries like biomedicine and clean energy are also tapping into the area’s resources.

Other top sectors, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), include business and financial operations (8.6 percent of total employment), food prep and service (8.3 percent) and healthcare support (6.7 percent).

Read on to discover the top jobs in the city and county of Sacramento, and find out how much you can expect to earn. Randstad research has found salaries in the Sacramento area are significantly higher than the national average, so we’ve included figures from the upper end of the pay range.

Compared to the nationwide average, the Sacramento region has more than double the concentration of compensation, benefits and job analysis specialists. A key part of the sector are benefits managers, who are responsible for managing all employee benefit programs, from healthcare to life insurance, wellness programs, retirement plans and more. In the Sacramento area, a benefits manager can earn $146k to $172k per year.

Construction and extraction makes up 5.6 percent of the Sacramento area’s total employment — significantly more than the national average of 4.1 percent. Construction manager is one of the best-paying jobs in the field, with a typical salary of $113k to $133k. Nationwide, the number of roles is projected to grow 5 percent between 2022 and 2032.

Healthcare is a big industry in Sacramento. The region boasts four major not-for-profit health systems — Kaiser, Mercy, Sutter and UC Davis — and the industry provides around one-fifth of the total payroll for the region's workforce. That means pharmacist jobs are plentiful too — over 2,000 people work in this role in Sacramento. The average annual salary for a pharmacist ranges from $136k to $151k.

According to the BLS, Sacramento has more than twice the concentration of civil engineers compared to the national average. These engineers support Sacramento county’s construction and public works projects, as well as private building projects. The outlook for this role is robust, with a projected 5 percent growth across the U.S. in the decade to 2032. Civil engineers earn around $109k to $129k per year.

You’ll find plenty of advanced manufacturing jobs in Sacramento — one out of six California semiconductor jobs is in the Greater Sacramento region, and Intel, Siemens Mobility and Micron have large campuses here. As a production manager, you are responsible for overseeing manufacturing projects and problem solving. Expect to earn between $70k and $83k.

Sacramento is home to exciting developments in cleantech and electric vehicles: the California Mobility Center is an innovation hub that develops, funds and commercializes new mobility technologies, while UC Davis is home to the Plug-In Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Research Center. As an electrical engineer, you could join this cutting-edge field, and earn from $114k to $135k.