Best Anthropology programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in anthropology or archeology.
137 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,268 people a year. The job pays a median of $128,370 in California across about 630 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.
6 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 | CIP 45.0201In California → | 2,142 | 94.4% | 134 | $27,806 | $23,000 |
| 2 | CIP 45.0301In California → | 56 | 2.5% | 9 | $26,804 | $23,008 |
| 3 | CIP 30.2202In California → | 33 | 1.5% | 3 | $32,054 | $24,000 |
| 4 | CIP 45.0299In California → | 32 | 1.4% | 4 | $27,806 | $23,000 |
| 5 | CIP 30.4701In California → | 4 | 0.2% | 1 | — | — |
| 6 | 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 22 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 | 183 | Anthropology, General | $32,300 | 93% | — | 9% |
| 2 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 130 | Anthropology, General | $28,661 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 3 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 108 | Anthropology, General | $31,420 | 83% | — | 33% |
| 4 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 93 | Anthropology, General | $28,059 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 5 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 93 | Anthropology, General | $23,152 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 6 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 74 | Anthropology, General | $30,509 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 7 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 74 | Anthropology, General | $26,178 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 8 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 67 | Anthropology, General | $28,543 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 9 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Anthropology, General | $26,278 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 10 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Anthropology, General | $22,351 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 11 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 51 | Anthropology, General | $25,553 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 12 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Anthropology, General | — | 36% | — | — |
| 13 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Anthropology, General | $28,314 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 14 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Anthropology, General | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 15 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Anthropology, General | $26,794 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 16 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Anthropology, General | $32,460 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 17 | Moorpark College Moorpark, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 34 | Anthropology, General | — | 44% | — | — |
| 18 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 33 | Anthropology, General | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 19 | California State Polytechnic University - Humboldt Arcata, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Anthropology, General | $19,868 | 49% | — | 98% |
| 20 | California State University - Chico Chico, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Anthropology, General | $27,856 | 63% | — | 93% |
| 21 | Long Beach City College Long Beach, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Anthropology, General | — | 30% | — | — |
| 22 | Palomar College San Marcos, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Anthropology, General | — | 38% | — | — |
| 23 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Anthropology, General | — | 37% | — | — |
| 24 | Pasadena City College Pasadena, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Anthropology, General | — | 48% | — | — |
| 25 | American River College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Anthropology, General | — | 37% | — | — |
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 | 183 | 3 |
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 130 | 3 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 108 | 1 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 93 | 2 |
| University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | Public | 93 | 1 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 74 | 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 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 40 | 1 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 38 | 1 |
What anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $99,650. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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 Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Anthropology
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional 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 14 majors mapped to Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary14 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.2201Ancient Studies/Civilization
- 30.2202Classical, Ancient Mediterranean, and Near Eastern Studies and Archaeology
- 30.2299Classical and Ancient Studies, Other
- 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
Common questions
Answers for people weighing anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Anthropology?+
Doctoral or professional 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, 94.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Anthropology?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Anthropology, Archeology, Classical and Ancient Studies, Linguistics and Anthropology. Together they graduate about 2,268 people a year in California.
How much do anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary earn in California?+
The median is $128,370 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 28.8% above the U.S. median of $99,650. 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 anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 500 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 6 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 anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Anthropology Lecturer, Archaeology Professor, Anthropology Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1061.
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
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