Chico State Geography (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Geography and Cartography
- Public university
- Chico, CA
- About 17 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Chico State geography graduates earn about what geography graduates earn nationally, $40,380 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $19,250 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,250. It is one of the higher-paying geography degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all geography bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Chico State graduates earn more than the national figure and about $7,062 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California geography program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 79% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $204 a month, or 6.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (19 of 21) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Chico area are about 1% above the national average, so a $40,380 salary here buys what about $39,902 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to geography, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Surveying and Mapping Technicians
$78,110Median pay in California. 3,340 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Cartographers and Photogrammetrists
$102,780Median pay in California. 1,450 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Geographers
$114,460Median pay in California. 80 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Chico State
Geography ranks 19th of 51 bachelor's programs at Chico State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($113,181), Construction Management ($89,075), and Construction Engineering Technology ($88,648).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $40,380 one year after graduating and $72,207 five years after. The median across geography bachelor's programs in California is $35,426.
The median federal loan balance is $19,250, which ranks 11th lowest of 11 geography bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $204 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 48% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%.
Most do. 90% (19 of 21) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the geography program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024