Best Camera Operator programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Operate television, video, or film camera to record images or scenes for television, video, or film.
52 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,155 people a year. The job pays a median of $106,900 in California across about 4,700 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.
3 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 50.0602In California → | 2,113 | 98.1% | 50 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 2 | CIP 10.0202In California → | 30 | 1.4% | 1 | $21,634 | $20,000 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0607In California → | 12 | 0.6% | 3 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 52 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Film Academy Burbank, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 260 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $17,109 | 68% | $46,505 | — |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 245 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $34,187 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 229 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $35,795 | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 4 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 155 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,561 | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 5 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 140 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $22,596 | 41% | $32,792 | — |
| 6 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 105 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,840 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 7 | Los Angeles Valley College Valley Glen, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 102 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 32% | — | — |
| 8 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 36% | — | — |
| 9 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,618 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 10 | West Los Angeles College Culver City, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 73 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 28% | — | — |
| 11 | Biola University La Mirada, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 67 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 68% | $26,727 | 74% |
| 12 | Los Angeles City College Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 29% | — | — |
| 13 | California State University - Dominguez Hills Carson, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 43% | — | 93% |
| 14 | Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $23,354 | 34% | $40,294 | — |
| 15 | California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $28,247 | 67% | $42,045 | 32% |
| 16 | Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $22,988 | 79% | $48,578 | 75% |
| 17 | Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 48% | — | — |
| 18 | City College of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 40% | — | — |
| 19 | Hollywood Cultural College Los Angeles, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 45% | — | — |
| 21 | Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $25,835 | 53% | $25,892 | 73% |
| 22 | Chabot College Hayward, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 47% | — | — |
| 23 | San Francisco Film School San Francisco, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 67% | $30,930 | — |
| 24 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 70% | $23,129 | 76% |
| 25 | Sierra College Rocklin, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 42% | — | — |
All 52 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Film Academy | Burbank | Private for-profit | 260 | 2 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 245 | 1 |
| Chapman University | Orange | Private not-for-profit | 229 | 1 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 155 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Film School | Hollywood | Private for-profit | 140 | 1 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 105 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Valley College | Valley Glen | Public | 102 | 1 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 82 | 1 |
| California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento | Public | 78 | 1 |
| West Los Angeles College | Culver City | Public | 73 | 1 |
| Biola University | La Mirada | Private not-for-profit | 67 | 1 |
| Los Angeles City College | Los Angeles | Public | 55 | 1 |
| California State University - Dominguez Hills | Carson | Public | 47 | 1 |
| Academy of Art University | San Francisco | Private for-profit | 43 | 1 |
| California Institute of the Arts | Valencia | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 1 |
What camera operators, television, video, and film earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,990. 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 Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film page.
How to become a Camera Operator
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
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 4 majors mapped to Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 10.0202Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician
- 10.0299Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians, Other
- 50.0602Cinematography and Film/Video Production
- 50.0607Documentary Production
Common questions
Answers for people weighing camera operators, television, video, and film programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Camera Operator?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Cinematography and Film/Video Production, which awarded 2,113 degrees in California in 2024-25, 98.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Camera Operator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 2,155 people a year in California.
How much do camera operators, television, video, and film earn in California?+
The median is $106,900 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 42.6% above the U.S. median of $74,990. 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 camera operators, television, video, and film growing?+
BLS projects a +1.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 2,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
52 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 camera operators, television, video, and film work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Cameraman, Videographer, Camera Operator, Television News Photographer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-4031.
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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