Start with the answer
Civil Engineers pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Winston-Salem, NC
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Civil Engineers is $130,280 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $84,170 per year in Winston-Salem, NC. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 54.8% above Winston-Salem, NC on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 17-2051 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 3,170 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 350 in Winston-Salem, NC. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings