Analysts were the most underpaid workers within California state government’s largest union last year, according to a new CalHR survey.

The occupation, which includes common state job classifications such as staff services analysts and associate governmental program analysts, earned 30 percent less on average than their counterparts in private industry and in local and federal government, according to the survey.

The survey compared median salaries in 32 job categories represented by SEIU Local 1000, which represents about 100,000 state workers.

Each category included a few to dozens of specific job classifications, and about 80,000 employees are represented in the categories in the survey. About 20,000 are analysts, the largest group represented.

CalHR regularly surveys groups of state worker salaries and compares them to their peers to comply with state statutes.

The survey factored in state workers’ benefit packages, which often are more generous than in the private sector due to pensions.

“Making simple wage comparisons ... provides an incomplete picture,” the report states. “It is analogous to comparing the value of one home to another, without considering the size or location of the land.”

State analysts had median salaries of about $69,000 per year. With benefits factored in, their total compensation was $117,000. The market average salary for their peers was about $97,000, with benefits increasing that to $152,000.

Overall, the survey found workers in eight of the occupations were underpaid compared to their peers.

The eight underpaid occupations were management analysts; computer systems analysts; compensation specialists; urban and regional planners; court, municipal and license clerks; legal secretaries; bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks; and transportation engineers.

Computer systems analysts were the second largest group in the survey, representing about 8,800 people. They made about 6.6 percent less than their peers with median salaries of about $87,000 before benefits and about $148,000 after benefits, compared to a market average salary of $108,000 rising to about $158,000 with benefits.

In the rest of the classifications, workers were paid from 2.5 percent more (accountants and auditors) to about 39 percent more (dental assistants) than their peers, according to the survey.

When wages alone were compared, excluding benefits, 17 occupations made less than their peers, while the rest made the same or more, the survey found. The survey analyzed salaries as of March 2018.

Since then, the union has negotiated a new contract with the state. The contract includes a 7 percent raise over three years and a collection of larger raises — mostly about 5 percent — for specific job classifications.

The survey drew data from two U.S. Department of Labor surveys, the Occupational Employment Statistics survey and the National Compensation Survey.

This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 7:56 AM.