Which California anthropology program has the lowest debt?

Cal Poly Pomona reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,000, with first-year pay of $27,750.

How much do anthropology graduates earn in California?

The median across 22 California anthropology bachelor's programs is $27,803 in the first year after graduating and $49,533 five years after.

How many anthropology bachelor's programs are in California?

22 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 22 of them also report federal debt.

Anthropology (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

22 programs report first-year pay
22 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Anthropology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California anthropology bachelor's program pays its graduates $27,803 in their first year, $13 more than the national median. Sacramento State reports the highest first-year pay ($32,460), and Cal Poly Pomona the lowest median debt ($11,000).

Median first-year pay$27,803National $27,790

Median pay after 5 years$49,533National $45,049

Median federal debt$16,667National $22,962

Debt-to-earnings58%National 81%

All 22 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$32,460	$48,680	$20,675	64%
2	UCLALos Angeles · public	$32,300	$55,070	$15,000	46%
3	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$31,744	Not reported	$19,249	61%
4	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$31,420	$58,077	$19,500	62%
5	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$30,509	$57,629	$16,667	55%
6	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$29,364	$42,878	$14,000	48%
7	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$28,661	$63,390	$12,949	45%
8	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$28,543	$53,445	$13,958	49%
9	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$28,314	$50,064	$17,250	61%
10	UC DavisDavis · public	$28,059	$55,777	$15,000	53%
11	Chico StateChico · public	$27,856	$48,693	$19,833	71%
12	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$27,750	$47,764	$11,000	40%
13	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$26,794	$51,703	$14,404	54%
14	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$26,502	$55,660	$20,914	79%
15	CSUNNorthridge · public	$26,278	$47,132	$17,750	68%
16	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$26,178	$44,195	$21,250	81%
17	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$25,553	Not reported	$13,099	51%
18	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$25,354	Not reported	$12,646	50%
19	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$23,152	$47,407	$17,875	77%
20	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$22,351	$39,659	$12,500	56%
21	Fresno StateFresno · public	$20,949	Not reported	$14,231	68%
22	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$19,868	$46,504	$18,150	91%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California anthropology 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 the 22 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Sacramento State$32,460
UCLA$32,300
Sonoma State$31,744
UC Santa Barbara$31,420
UC Irvine$30,509

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

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

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$136,990

Median pay in California. 29,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $81,320Top 10%: $180,060

Forensic Science Technicians

$102,100

Median pay in California. 2,800 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $64,650Top 10%: $148,090

Anthropologists and Archeologists

$72,240

Median pay in California. 2,060 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $55,140Top 10%: $104,770

Common questions

Sacramento State in Sacramento reports the highest median first-year pay, $32,460. Its median federal debt is $20,675.

Anthropology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked166 programs by pay and debt

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.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the anthropology bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024