BLS OEWS, May 2025

Operations manager salary in San Diego, CA

What operations managers are paid in San Diego, CA, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.

Median annual pay

$119,600

Middle half earn

$78,200 to $177,430

People in this job here

26,230

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General and Operations Managers, San Diego, CA, annual pay, May 2025

10th percentile
$58,370
25th percentile
$78,200
Median
$119,600
75th percentile
$177,430
90th percentile
$267,090

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 11-1021. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.

At a glance

How San Diego, CA compares

  • The median here is 13% above the national median of $105,770.
  • San Diego, CA ranks 16th for median pay among the 50 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
  • About 26,230 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 59 jobs in the metro.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 4.6 times the 10th.

Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.

San Diego, CA against the national figures
PercentileSan Diego, CANational
10th percentile$58,370$50,090
25th percentile$78,200$72,320
Median$119,600$105,770
75th percentile$177,430$167,280
90th percentile$267,090$253,390

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 11-1021. National page for operations managers

By metro

Other metros for operations managers

Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.

Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Skills

What employers look for in an operations manager

The skills our operations manager resume example leads with, written for US employers.

  • Process improvement
  • P&L management
  • Team leadership
  • Capacity planning
  • KPI development
  • Lean and Six Sigma
  • Vendor negotiation
  • Inventory control
  • Workforce scheduling
  • Health and safety compliance

See the full operations manager resume example, with bullets and keywords.

Negotiating

Using these numbers

Below $78,200 puts you in the bottom quarter for operations managers in San Diego, CA. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $119,600, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.

Asking for $177,430 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.

Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.

About the numbers

What these figures are

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in General and Operations Managers, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.

They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living. The metro is San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA as BLS defines it.

Questions

Questions about operations manager pay in San Diego, CA

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