How much do environmental science and conservation graduates earn in California?

The median across 24 California environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs is $35,197 in the first year after graduating and $67,402 five years after.

Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: Which California environmental science and conservation program has the lowest debt?

Cal State San Marcos reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,424, with first-year pay of $37,364.

Q: How many environmental science and conservation bachelor's programs are in California?

24 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 21 of them also report federal debt.

24 programs report first-year pay
21 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Natural Resources Conservation and Research

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California environmental science and conservation bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,197 in their first year, $1,221 more than the national median. Occidental College reports the highest first-year pay ($49,529), and Cal State San Marcos the lowest median debt ($12,424).

Median first-year pay$35,197National $33,976

Median pay after 5 years$67,402National $54,967

Median federal debt$16,533National $23,078

Debt-to-earnings53%National 67%

All 24 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	Occidental CollegeLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$49,529	$68,098	Not reported	Not reported
2	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$47,338	$89,932	$12,988	27%
3	University of RedlandsRedlands · private nonprofit	$46,164	$70,817	$26,000	56%
4	Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara · private nonprofit	$42,576	$74,814	$23,250	55%
5	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$40,759	$62,755	$15,856	39%
6	UC DavisDavis · public	$38,954	$74,836	$15,200	39%
7	University of San FranciscoSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$38,949	$67,402	$23,125	59%
8	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$38,876	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$37,524	$74,028	$18,000	48%
10	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$37,364	Not reported	$12,424	33%
11	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$37,308	$71,352	$22,100	59%
12	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$36,304	$59,960	$12,477	34%
13	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$34,090	$58,289	$13,191	39%
14	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$33,870	$68,028	$13,575	40%
15	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$33,759	$66,752	$16,533	49%
16	Chico StateChico · public	$33,758	$58,420	$22,294	66%
17	UCLALos Angeles · public	$31,944	$80,496	$18,000	56%
18	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$31,938	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
19	Cal State Monterey BaySeaside · public	$30,712	$53,883	$16,806	55%
20	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$30,521	$61,938	$16,157	53%
21	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$29,917	$50,871	$15,500	52%
22	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$29,152	$60,229	$18,500	63%
23	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$28,749	$61,590	$16,150	56%
24	Pitzer CollegeClaremont · private nonprofit	$21,570	Not reported	$17,750	82%

Occidental College, Cal State East Bay, and Cal State Channel Islands report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California environmental science and conservation 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 21 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Occidental College$49,529
UC Berkeley$47,338
University of Redlands$46,164
Santa Clara University$42,576
Sonoma State$40,759

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 environmental science and conservation, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Compliance Officers

$96,980

Median pay in California. 49,880 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $57,530Top 10%: $158,280

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$106,510

Median pay in California. 12,490 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $65,350Top 10%: $161,910

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$61,220

Median pay in California. 6,010 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,670Top 10%: $106,840

Forest and Conservation Technicians

$58,120

Median pay in California. 6,640 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $43,680Top 10%: $91,480

Common questions

Occidental College in Los Angeles reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,529.

Environmental Science and Conservation (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked247 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 environmental science and conservation 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