Which California statistics program has the lowest debt?

UC Davis reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,000, with first-year pay of $49,264.

How much do statistics graduates earn in California?

The median across 7 California statistics bachelor's programs is $55,110 in the first year after graduating and $107,082 five years after.

How many statistics bachelor's programs are in California?

7 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

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

7 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Statistics

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California statistics bachelor's program pays its graduates $55,110 in their first year, $6,124 less than the national median. UC Berkeley reports the highest first-year pay ($83,227), and UC Davis the lowest median debt ($15,000).

Median first-year pay$55,110National $61,234

Median pay after 5 years$107,082National $95,804

Median federal debt$17,253National $20,281

Debt-to-earnings30%National 35%

All 7 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	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$83,227	$145,658	$16,165	19%
2	UCLALos Angeles · public	$59,718	$94,154	$17,005	28%
3	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$57,734	Not reported	$16,047	28%
4	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$55,110	$110,783	$17,500	32%
5	UC DavisDavis · public	$49,264	$107,082	$15,000	30%
6	UC San DiegoLa Jolla · public	$36,676	Not reported	$19,237	52%
7	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$29,138	Not reported	$21,488	74%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every California statistics 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 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

UC Berkeley$83,227
UCLA$59,718
San Diego State$57,734
UC Santa Barbara$55,110
UC Davis$49,264

Lowest median debt

UC Davis$15,000
San Diego State$16,047
UC Berkeley$16,165
UCLA$17,005
UC Santa Barbara$17,500

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

Data Scientists

$141,590

Median pay in California. 39,310 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $77,480Top 10%: $224,920

Natural Sciences Managers

$210,230

Median pay in California. 14,950 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $130,730Top 10%: $330,050

Statisticians

$135,960

Median pay in California. 2,480 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $69,890Top 10%: $205,210

Actuaries

$130,510

Median pay in California. 1,280 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $83,510Top 10%: $219,490

Common questions

UC Berkeley in Berkeley reports the highest median first-year pay, $83,227. Its median federal debt is $16,165.

Statistics (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked48 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 statistics 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