Which California sociology program has the lowest debt?

USC reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,324, with first-year pay of $35,580.

How much do sociology graduates earn in California?

The median across 42 California sociology bachelor's programs is $34,628 in the first year after graduating and $56,549 five years after.

How many sociology bachelor's programs are in California?

42 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 41 of them also report federal debt.

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

42 programs report first-year pay
41 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Sociology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California sociology bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,628 in their first year, $529 more than the national median. Santa Clara University reports the highest first-year pay ($53,612), and USC the lowest median debt ($10,324).

Median first-year pay$34,628National $34,099

Median pay after 5 years$56,549National $50,382

Median federal debt$16,458National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings44%National 72%

All 42 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	Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara · private nonprofit	$53,612	$77,833	Not reported	Not reported
2	National UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$46,505	$54,674	$28,125	60%
3	Occidental CollegeLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$42,653	$62,892	$21,250	50%
4	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$40,774	$78,070	$13,131	32%
5	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$40,763	$61,399	$15,000	37%
6	Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$40,451	$61,463	$29,250	72%
7	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$39,378	$61,001	$18,654	47%
8	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$39,278	$70,118	$20,500	52%
9	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$37,896	$62,652	$18,000	47%
10	UC MercedMerced · public	$37,092	$49,395	$17,515	47%
11	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$37,040	$58,159	$16,100	43%
12	Chico StateChico · public	$36,992	$46,999	$16,049	43%
13	Cal State Channel IslandsCamarillo · public	$36,557	$58,859	$15,000	41%
14	University of San DiegoSan Diego · private nonprofit	$36,476	$59,681	$26,000	71%
15	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$36,464	$60,237	$14,413	40%
16	University of San FranciscoSan Francisco · private nonprofit	$36,183	$60,747	$25,000	69%
17	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$35,993	$65,669	$19,500	54%
18	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$35,580	$67,128	$10,324	29%
19	University of La VerneLa Verne · private nonprofit	$35,403	$48,624	$23,415	66%
20	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$35,136	$50,363	$12,500	36%
21	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$34,714	$52,832	$13,917	40%
22	Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos · public	$34,541	$51,480	$15,000	43%
23	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$34,372	$59,183	$13,500	39%
24	Cal State Dominguez HillsCarson · public	$34,350	$50,994	$15,000	44%
25	UCLALos Angeles · public	$34,121	$64,677	$14,500	42%
26	CSUNNorthridge · public	$34,093	$53,371	$13,000	38%
27	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$34,092	$54,833	$12,500	37%
28	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$34,050	$56,549	$15,000	44%
29	University of RedlandsRedlands · private nonprofit	$33,421	$46,405	$24,500	73%
30	UC DavisDavis · public	$32,137	$59,319	$12,600	39%
31	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$31,270	$53,402	$12,831	41%
32	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$30,432	$57,178	$13,300	44%
33	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$30,430	$51,977	$27,000	89%
34	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo · public	$30,401	$75,585	$16,750	55%
35	Fresno StateFresno · public	$30,378	$45,384	$11,114	37%
36	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$30,126	$49,287	$13,852	46%
37	Biola UniversityLa Mirada · private nonprofit	$30,092	$54,914	$26,990	90%
38	Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa · private nonprofit	$29,683	$44,267	$21,515	72%
39	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$29,367	$53,798	$16,500	56%
40	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$28,495	$56,389	$16,500	58%
41	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$27,919	$49,633	$10,613	38%
42	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$24,501	$51,759	$16,458	67%

Santa Clara University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California sociology 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 41 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Santa Clara University$53,612
National University$46,505
Occidental College$42,653
UC Berkeley$40,774
San Francisco State$40,763

Lowest median debt

USC$10,324
Stanislaus State$10,613
Fresno State$11,114
San Diego State$12,500
Cal State LA$12,500

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 sociology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Social Science Research Assistants

$60,250

Median pay in California. 5,300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $38,060Top 10%: $117,070

Sociologists

$125,770

Median pay in California. 590 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $85,030Top 10%: $161,710

Common questions

Santa Clara University in Santa Clara reports the highest median first-year pay, $53,612.

Sociology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked397 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 sociology 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