California is synonymous with the media industry. From San Francisco to Los Angeles, the state provides a blend of film and television studios, news outlets, technology startups, and new media companies, making it the perfect destination to find media jobs. It remains one of the best places to build a career in media in the world.

According to Glassdoor, some of the highest-rated media companies in California include Yahoo (San Francisco), Associated Press (Los Angeles), Google (San Francisco), Turner Broadcasting (LA, San Francisco), and Cond Nast (LA, San Francisco).

If you're starting a career in media, it's important to realize that most of the media industry is headed online. So whether you are a writer, editor, producer, publicist, or marketing guru, it's essential to understand how your medium works online. Writers should learn how to write for online audiences, and how to craft their articles with proper SEO. Editors should learn about the trends in online video, and how best to grab the attention of fleeting web audiences. Marketing professionals must learn how to leverage social media platforms to build brand awareness and loyalty. People starting out in this field begin their careers as writers, assistant writers, researchers, bloggers, editors, and assistants to executives.

In California, the most popular media jobs are Marketing Assistants, PR Managers, Reporters, Creative Directors, Media Planners, Social Media Managers, and Marketing Managers.

The top ranked schools in California with programs and degrees in media are University of Southern California (USC, $49,464 per year, out-of-state), American Film Institute (AFI, $47,030 per year, out-of-state), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA, $51,990 per year, out-of-state), and California Institute of the Arts ($43,400 per year, out-of-state), according to rankings published by the Hollywood Reporter and Hack College in 2016.

The top states for finding jobs in media tend to be California and New York, but of the two, California consistently has the highest supply of jobs and highest average wages.

Professionals working in media in California also tend to work in the following industries, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Online and New Media, Technology, Blog or Vlog Production, Design, Marketing, Advertising, Scripted Television.

The following are estimates of salaries and wages for media jobs in California, which were compiled from Salary.com, Glassdoor, and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Managing Editors - $107,000 per year, or $51.44 per hour

Publications Generalist Managers - $115,000 per year, or $55.29 per hour

Top Communications Executives - $247,000 per year, or $118.75 per hour

Media Design Managers - $110,000 per year, or $52.88 per hour

Creative Managers - $97,000 per year, or $46.63 per hour

Reporter II - $46,000 per year, or $22.12 per hour

Creative Directors - $133,000 per year, or $63.94 per hour

Reporter I - $39,000 per year, or $18.75 per hour

Reporter III - $57,000 per year, or $27.40 per hour

Senior Videographers - $70,000 per year, or $33.65 per hour

Media Product Development Managers - $95,000 per year, or $45.67 per hour

Production Assistants - $34,000 per year, or $16.35 per hour

Media Production Managers - $90,000 per year, or $43.27 per hour

Media Buyers - $71,000 per year, or $34.13 per hour

Broadcast Technicians - $53,000 per year, or $25.48 per hour

Media Planners - $60,000 per year, or $28.85 per hour

Media Relations Managers - $106,000 per year, or $50.96 per hour

Media Operations Managers - $90,000 per year, or $43.27 per hour

Media Program Directors - $78,000 per year, or $37.50 per hour

Media Production Directors - $163,000 per year, or $78.37 per hour