Which state pays animal science bachelor's graduates the most?

California, where the median program pays its graduates $33,879 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. Texas is next, at $30,877.

Which animal science bachelor's program pays the most?

UW-Platteville in Wisconsin reports the highest first-year pay of the 77 programs ranked here, $44,956. Its median federal debt is $20,875.

How much debt do animal science bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $21,843 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 65% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Animal Science (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

77 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Bachelor's in Animal Sciences

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median animal science bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $33,926 in their first year and $51,670 five years after. California has the highest state median ($33,879), and Texas the lowest ($30,877). The median program leaves its graduates with $21,843 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$33,926Across 77 programs

Median pay after 5 years$51,670Across 73 programs

Median federal debt$21,843Across 76 programs

Debt-to-earnings65%Across 76 programs

All 77 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	UW-PlattevillePlatteville, WI · public	$44,956	$47,777	$51,278	$20,875	46%
2	South Dakota StateBrookings, SD · public	$44,844	Not adjusted	$56,528	$23,162	52%
3	UW-MadisonMadison, WI · public	$44,354	$47,137	$57,024	$26,000	59%
4	Mississippi StateMississippi State, MS · public	$41,464	$47,686	$71,455	$20,938	50%
5	Michigan StateEast Lansing, MI · public	$41,292	$42,915	$59,436	$26,000	63%
6	University of DelawareNewark, DE · public	$40,317	Not adjusted	Not reported	$24,572	61%
7	Fresno StateFresno, CA · public	$40,311	$36,408	$58,619	$17,585	44%
8	University of MarylandCollege Park, MD · public	$40,209	$38,309	$56,654	$21,500	53%
9	UMass AmherstAmherst, MA · public	$40,008	$37,830	$59,844	$27,000	67%
10	Iowa StateAmes, IA · public	$39,567	$45,084	$55,971	$21,500	54%
11	North Dakota StateFargo, ND · public	$39,290	Not adjusted	$55,921	$23,625	60%
12	University of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln, NE · public	$39,064	$43,355	$54,812	$20,981	54%
13	Kansas StateManhattan, KS · public	$38,868	$43,154	$51,573	$22,757	59%
14	Delaware Valley UniversityDoylestown, PA · private nonprofit	$38,378	$39,333	$51,293	$27,000	70%
15	UW-River FallsRiver Falls, WI · public	$37,852	$40,227	$51,398	$23,183	61%
16	University of MaineOrono, ME · public	$37,823	$38,973	$49,452	$27,000	71%
17	UConnStorrs, CT · public	$37,712	$36,398	$60,947	$23,515	62%
18	Cal Poly PomonaPomona, CA · public	$37,349	$33,733	$56,089	$15,550	42%
19	SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at CobleskillCobleskill, NY · public	$37,068	$34,347	$46,314	$24,000	65%
20	University of IdahoMoscow, ID · public	$36,486	$38,208	$45,571	$25,000	69%
21	Oklahoma StateStillwater, OK · public	$36,235	$41,250	$55,473	$19,500	54%
22	Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · private nonprofit	$36,204	$33,547	$51,670	$14,100	39%
23	Colorado StateFort Collins, CO · public	$36,111	$35,042	$56,056	$22,045	61%
24	University of ArizonaTucson, AZ · public	$35,996	$35,754	$52,398	$18,195	51%
25	NC A&TGreensboro, NC · public	$35,686	$37,833	$48,691	$28,043	79%
26	Texas A&MCollege Station, TX · public	$35,582	$36,661	$61,442	$18,906	53%
27	University of Rhode IslandKingston, RI · public	$35,520	$34,728	$46,797	$21,750	61%
28	PurdueWest Lafayette, IN · public	$35,318	$37,842	$66,813	$20,500	58%
29	University of Minnesota-CrookstonCrookston, MN · public	$35,072	Not adjusted	$51,363	$21,500	61%
30	Auburn UniversityAuburn, AL · public	$34,980	$39,382	$66,404	$21,625	62%
31	Texas TechLubbock, TX · public	$34,933	$35,992	$54,222	$21,369	61%
32	Northwest Missouri StateMaryville, MO · public	$34,876	Not adjusted	Not reported	$23,000	66%
33	University of WyomingLaramie, WY · public	$34,875	Not adjusted	$45,390	$23,250	67%
34	University of MissouriColumbia, MO · public	$34,678	$38,184	$57,523	$19,500	56%
35	University of FindlayFindlay, OH · private nonprofit	$34,595	$37,290	$49,278	$26,000	75%
36	University of VermontBurlington, VT · public	$34,467	Not adjusted	$42,941	$24,250	70%
37	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN · public	$34,073	$34,549	$59,386	$19,500	57%
38	Sam Houston StateHuntsville, TX · public	$34,051	$35,084	$46,013	$21,745	64%
39	RutgersNew Brunswick, NJ · public	$33,926	$31,181	$50,002	$25,169	74%
40	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA · public	$33,879	$30,599	$62,117	$20,500	61%
41	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro, TN · public	$33,788	$36,778	$40,607	$18,415	55%
42	Missouri StateSpringfield, MO · public	$33,675	$37,080	$49,514	$19,687	58%
43	Ohio StateColumbus, OH · public	$33,642	$36,262	$50,455	$23,301	69%
44	Chico StateChico, CA · public	$33,387	$30,154	$56,684	$17,334	52%
45	Texas StateSan Marcos, TX · public	$33,358	$34,369	$45,953	$21,662	65%
46	NC StateRaleigh, NC · public	$33,332	$35,337	$52,790	$22,689	68%
47	University of New HampshireDurham, NH · public	$33,213	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	81%
48	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$33,182	$34,008	$46,518	$26,000	78%
49	Oregon StateCorvallis, OR · public	$32,893	$31,823	$54,287	$22,362	68%
50	University of ArkansasFayetteville, AR · public	$32,417	$37,288	$56,539	$23,551	73%
51	UC DavisDavis, CA · public	$32,309	$29,181	$54,122	$13,625	42%
52	Washington StatePullman, WA · public	$31,911	$29,820	$47,320	$19,545	61%
53	University of GeorgiaAthens, GA · public	$31,769	$32,992	$61,453	$22,250	70%
54	Arkansas StateJonesboro, AR · public	$31,444	$36,169	$47,579	Not reported	Not reported
55	University of FloridaGainesville, FL · public	$31,294	$30,261	$51,450	$16,475	53%
56	UH ManoaHonolulu, HI · public	$31,285	Not adjusted	Not reported	$24,125	77%
57	WVUMorgantown, WV · public	$31,103	Not adjusted	$54,660	$20,500	66%
58	Stephen F. AustinNacogdoches, TX · public	$31,059	$32,001	$48,336	$21,739	70%
59	Utah StateLogan, UT · public	$30,774	$31,128	$64,644	$17,449	57%
60	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, IL · public	$30,706	$30,719	$44,349	$21,936	71%
61	Tarleton StateStephenville, TX · public	$30,695	$31,626	$45,558	$21,638	70%
62	Montana StateBozeman, MT · public	$30,220	$31,930	$42,414	$24,034	80%
63	UIUCChampaign, IL · public	$30,187	$30,200	$53,114	$19,850	66%
64	LSUBaton Rouge, LA · public	$29,793	$33,776	$62,173	$23,143	78%
65	Clemson UniversityClemson, SC · public	$28,942	$30,872	$55,310	$24,827	86%
66	Angelo StateSan Angelo, TX · public	$28,820	$29,694	$50,319	$19,183	67%
67	Virginia TechBlacksburg, VA · public	$28,729	$28,415	$49,456	$22,631	79%
68	New Mexico StateLas Cruces, NM · public	$28,475	Not adjusted	$41,175	$18,489	65%
69	Sul Ross StateAlpine, TX · public	$28,002	Not adjusted	Not reported	$20,050	72%
70	University of KentuckyLexington, KY · public	$27,144	$30,107	$65,391	$23,250	86%
71	East Texas A&M UniversityCommerce, TX · public	$27,101	$27,923	Not reported	$23,000	85%
72	University of TennesseeKnoxville, TN · public	$26,515	$28,861	$50,966	$21,693	82%
73	BYU-IdahoRexburg, ID · private nonprofit	$25,661	Not adjusted	$45,343	$18,870	74%
74	Tuskegee UniversityTuskegee, AL · private nonprofit	$24,211	Not adjusted	$47,961	$27,000	112%
75	Louisiana Tech UniversityRuston, LA · public	$21,958	$24,894	Not reported	$26,626	121%
76	Texas A&M-KingsvilleKingsville, TX · public	$20,036	$20,644	$58,759	$25,000	125%
77	UPR MayaguezMayaguez, PR · public	$14,123	Not adjusted	$33,433	$7,125	50%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 62 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 15, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

One program reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Animal Science (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's animal science bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
California	5	$33,879	$17,334
Texas	10	$30,877	$21,650

Programs in 47 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

UC Davis, CA$13,625
Cal Poly Pomona, CA$15,550
Chico State, CA$17,334
Fresno State, CA$17,585
Texas A&M, TX$18,906
Angelo State, TX$19,183
Sul Ross State, TX$20,050
Cal Poly SLO, CA$20,500
Texas Tech, TX$21,369
Tarleton State, TX$21,638

Lowest debt for the pay

Cal Poly Pomona, CA42%
UC Davis, CA42%
Fresno State, CA44%
Chico State, CA52%
Texas A&M, TX53%
Cal Poly SLO, CA61%
Texas Tech, TX61%
Sam Houston State, TX64%
Texas State, TX65%
Angelo State, TX67%

Only the 15 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to animal science, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers

$59,320

Median pay in the US. 27,960 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $38,990Top 10%: $91,770

Agricultural Technicians

$49,630

Median pay in the US. 15,130 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $35,980Top 10%: $76,480

Farm and Home Management Educators

$60,220

Median pay in the US. 8,220 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,650Top 10%: $85,060

Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers

$89,900

Median pay in the US. 6,500 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 70,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $54,320Top 10%: $160,020

Common questions

The median animal science bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $33,926 in their first year and $51,670 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024