Federal data

Public four-year colleges in California by graduates' median earnings 4 years after

California public four-year colleges, ranked by median earnings four years after completion, from College Scorecard (September 18, 2026). At least 5 colleges must report this figure for this list to exist.

RankSchoolCitySectorMedian earnings, 4 years afterCompletions
1University of California-San FranciscoSan FranciscoPublic, 4-year$151,742999
2University of California College of the Law-San FranciscoSan FranciscoPublic, 4-year$138,968422
3California State University Maritime AcademyVallejoPublic, 4-year$108,757243
4University of California-BerkeleyBerkeleyPublic, 4-year$96,01814,452
5California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoSan Luis ObispoPublic, 4-year$90,6625,530
6San Jose State UniversitySan JosePublic, 4-year$89,6149,694
7University of California-San DiegoLa JollaPublic, 4-year$83,13012,188
8University of California-Los AngelesLos AngelesPublic, 4-year$77,67714,886
9Moorpark CollegeMoorparkPublic, 4-year$77,5995,597
10University of Massachusetts GlobalAliso ViejoPublic, 4-year$74,8382,410
11University of California-IrvineIrvinePublic, 4-year$74,43811,182
12University of California-DavisDavisPublic, 4-year$73,08610,690
13California State University-East BayHaywardPublic, 4-year$72,5964,396
14Shasta CollegeReddingPublic, 4-year$71,6125,057
15California State Polytechnic University-PomonaPomonaPublic, 4-year$71,1386,421
16University of California-Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraPublic, 4-year$70,3237,459
17Crafton Hills CollegeYucaipaPublic, 4-year$69,922987
18San Diego State UniversitySan DiegoPublic, 4-year$68,26810,794
19Foothill CollegeLos Altos HillsPublic, 4-year$68,0701,901
20California State University-San MarcosSan MarcosPublic, 4-year$67,8913,748
21San Francisco State UniversitySan FranciscoPublic, 4-year$67,8046,232
22University of California-Santa CruzSanta CruzPublic, 4-year$67,0855,247
23Sonoma State UniversityRohnert ParkPublic, 4-year$65,9971,854
24University of California-MercedMercedPublic, 4-year$65,4101,838
25California State University-ChicoChicoPublic, 4-year$65,2283,706

Earnings cover federally aided graduates only, as published by College Scorecard, institution-wide rather than by one program.

How to read this. This is a whole-college figure across every program, not one program's graduates -- a college with mostly graduate or professional programs will show higher earnings than one that is mostly certificates. Completions shown alongside it are the latest IPEDS total on file.