Despite California’s highly diverse workforce, many types of jobs are predominantly filled by people from a specific demographic group, making them almost homogenous. In fact, this phenomenon—sometimes known as occupational segregation—is so widespread in California that it is a major feature of even the largest occupations. Moreover, many occupations outside of the top ten are even more homogenous. Here we highlight the jobs in California where occupational segregation is most extreme, particularly along the intersecting lines of gender and race/ethnicity.

Some of the most demographically skewed occupations are uneven by gender: in manual trades like carpentry and plumbing, practically all workers are men. Pre-K teaching and childcare work are similar, but in reverse, with the former skewing toward white women and the latter toward women of color.

Meanwhile, for racial/ethnic groups, about 90% of workers in some agricultural and landscaping jobs are Latino, and 75% or more of other agricultural workers, as well as maids and housekeeping cleaners, are immigrants.

White workers also see heavy overrepresentation in some fields, but to a lesser extent: producers and directors, firefighters, and CEOs and legislators are about twice as likely to be white as the overall workforce (60 to 68% in these jobs are white, compared to about 33% of full-time, full-year workers).

Racial/ethnic groups that make up smaller percentages of California’s workforce—Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and other categories—experience as much or more overrepresentation in certain jobs as white and Latino workers do in others, even if they never make up 90% of an occupation. Security guards and personal care aides are more than twice as likely to be Black as the average full-time worker (24% and 12% of those occupations, respectively, but just 5% of all full-time workers), and software developers are more than twice as likely to be Asian/Pacific Islander (57% of this job, but 18% overall).

Notably, not all jobs are so heavily skewed. For example, sales supervisors and compliance workers are similar to the overall workforce in racial/ethnic composition, and managers (the state’s largest job category) are representative in terms of gender.

Skills and education factor into the jobs that Californians take on, and higher education in particular continues to lead to higher paid work; addressing race- or gender-based disparities in access to education could thus make some occupations less homogenous. At the same time, as we have noted elsewhere, demographic over- and underrepresentation in jobs also reflect disparities in areas like labor market opportunities and social supports that are tied to historical race- and gender-based discrimination. These factors collectively contribute to the fact that workers who are Black, Latino, “other race,” female, or immigrants typically earn lower hourly wages. Given the problem’s long roots, addressing barriers to job access is complex but could benefit individuals seeking upward mobility as well as businesses in search of a skilled workforce.

Building skills and educational attainment could widen Californians’ job choices, and according to the November 2023 PPIC Statewide Survey on Californians’ economic well-being, educational policies are quite popular: 81% of Californians support job training programs and about seven in ten favor making public college tuition-free (68%). In addition, Californians are quite supportive of the kinds of policies that address the needs of workers whose job choices may be constrained, for instance by expanding tax credits for low-income workers (71% support) and increasing funding for child care for low-income families (76%).

California benefits from an economy comprised of a wide range of sectors and jobs—as well as from a large, diverse workforce. At the same time, much of the work done today remains skewed across race/ethnic and gender lines. Ensuring that all Californians can fully leverage their skills and benefit from future job opportunity is key to improving prosperity and powering the state’s economy.