Best Anthropologist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Study the origin, development, and behavior of human beings. May study the way of life, language, or physical characteristics of people in various parts of the world.
137 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 3,110 people a year. The job pays a median of $72,240 in California across about 2,060 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
7 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthropology, Generalmain feeder CIP 45.0201In California → | 2,142 | 68.9% | 134 | $27,806 | $23,000 |
| 2 | Human Biologymain feeder CIP 30.2701In California → | 870 | 28.0% | 7 | $31,690 | $17,312 |
| 3 | Archeologymain feeder CIP 45.0301In California → | 56 | 1.8% | 9 | $26,804 | $23,008 |
| 4 | Anthropology, Othermain feeder CIP 45.0299In California → | 32 | 1.0% | 4 | $27,806 | $23,000 |
| 5 | CIP 51.3204In California → | 5 | 0.2% | 1 | $99,851 | $21,475 |
| 6 | Linguistics and Anthropologymain feeder CIP 30.4701In California → | 4 | 0.1% | 1 | — | — |
| 7 | Ancient Studies/Civilizationmain feeder CIP 30.2201In California → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $32,054 | $24,000 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 24 of the 137 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 388 | Human Biology | $33,628 | 93% | — | 9% |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 314 | Human Biology | $23,405 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 200 | Human Biology | $12,187 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 4 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 174 | Human Biology | $50,179 | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 5 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 174 | Anthropology, General | $23,152 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 6 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 108 | Anthropology, General | $28,661 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 7 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 108 | Anthropology, General | $31,420 | 83% | — | 33% |
| 8 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Anthropology, General | $28,059 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 9 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 74 | Anthropology, General | $26,178 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 10 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 67 | Anthropology, General | $28,543 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 11 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Anthropology, General | $26,278 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 12 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Anthropology, General | $22,351 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 13 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 51 | Anthropology, General | $25,553 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 14 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Anthropology, General | — | 36% | — | — |
| 15 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Anthropology, General | $28,314 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 16 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Anthropology, General | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 17 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Anthropology, General | $26,794 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 18 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Anthropology, General | $32,460 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 19 | Moorpark College Moorpark, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 34 | Anthropology, General | — | 44% | — | — |
| 20 | California State Polytechnic University - Humboldt Arcata, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Anthropology, General | $19,868 | 49% | — | 98% |
| 21 | California State University - Chico Chico, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Anthropology, General | $27,856 | 63% | — | 93% |
| 22 | Long Beach City College Long Beach, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Anthropology, General | — | 30% | — | — |
| 23 | Palomar College San Marcos, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Anthropology, General | — | 38% | — | — |
| 24 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Anthropology, General | — | 37% | — | — |
| 25 | Pasadena City College Pasadena, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Anthropology, General | — | 48% | — | — |
All 137 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 388 | 3 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 314 | 4 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 200 | 2 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 174 | 3 |
| University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | Public | 174 | 2 |
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 108 | 2 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 108 | 1 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 86 | 1 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 74 | 2 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 67 | 2 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 58 | 1 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 51 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 51 | 2 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 44 | 2 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco | Public | 40 | 1 |
What anthropologists and archeologists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $70,770. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Anthropologists and Archeologists page.
How to become a Anthropologist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 15 majors mapped to Anthropologists and Archeologists15 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.2201Ancient Studies/Civilization
- 30.2299Classical and Ancient Studies, Other
- 30.2701Human Biology
- 30.4201Geoarcheaology
- 30.4701Linguistics and Anthropology
- 45.0201Anthropology, General
- 45.0202Physical and Biological Anthropology
- 45.0203Medical Anthropology
- 45.0204Cultural Anthropology
- 45.0205Forensic Anthropology
- 45.0299Anthropology, Other
- 45.0301Archeology
- 45.1301Sociology and Anthropology
- 45.1501Geography and Anthropology
- 51.3204Medical/Health Humanities
Common questions
Answers for people weighing anthropologists and archeologists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Anthropologist?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Anthropology, General, which awarded 2,142 degrees in California in 2024-25, 68.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Anthropologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Anthropology, Human Biology, Archeology, Health Professions Education, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 3,110 people a year in California.
How much do anthropologists and archeologists earn in California?+
The median is $72,240 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.1% above the U.S. median of $70,770. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for anthropologists and archeologists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
137 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 7 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do anthropologists and archeologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Researcher, Archaeologist, Forensic Anthropologist, Communication and Folklore Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3091.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card