Every figure on this page comes from the California State Controller's Government Compensation in California file for calendar year 2025 (cities, last updated June 30, 2026), which reports each position's minimum and maximum annual salary as the employer filed it. Using one source for Long Beach and every peer keeps the comparison on the same date and the same definitions. The peers are ten large Los Angeles and Orange County cities chosen for illustration (Santa Monica files its titles with internal codes, so it appears only in the health contribution view). RFP 2.1 says the City identifies the comparator agencies, and an awarded study uses that list.
| City | Title used | Minimum | Maximum |
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On 2025 ranges, Long Beach sat below the peer median maximum on seven of nine benchmarks, from about 6.6% (Police Officer) to about 16.9% (journey Accountant), and above it for General Librarian and Equipment Mechanic II. The City's 8/22/2026 schedule has moved since: Police Officer Step 6 is now $61.033 an hour, about $126,950 a year. A study would refresh every peer to the same effective date.
A title match is a hypothesis. Accountant II in Long Beach may carry different duties from "Accountant" in Torrance, and a Pasadena firefighter on a 56-hour schedule is paid on a different basis from a 40-hour rate. In a real study each match is checked against the class specifications on both sides, scored for duty overlap, and confirmed with Human Resources before any number reaches a report.