First of all ... southern california is a huge region so, you've got to be more specific as far as which area you're interested in. Are we talking about LA, San Diego, Orange County, Inland Empire ... etc. because pay varies widely even with a half hour drive.
I'm in the Inland Empire ... new grad pay typically ranges from $23 an hour to $30 an hour with an average of $26 an hour. Usually, the closer in you are to more populated "metro" areas like Riverside, the higher the pay. Kaiser does pay $2 an hour more for BSN's but they are the only hospital that I know of that does this. Their pay is the highest at $30 an hour. The farther out you go ... like out to the desert ... then, pay can drop to $23 an hour.
This is why you really can't generalize because SoCal is very big and pay, even by region, can vary widely.
There is absolutely no difficulty finding work. Just about very hospital within an hour drive takes our ADN program's graduating class out to lunch to pitch working for them.