Best Childcare Worker programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions.
119 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 13,488 people a year. The job pays a median of $40,020 in California across about 52,780 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 19.0709In California → | 12,656 | 93.8% | 108 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
| 2 | CIP 19.0706In California → | 817 | 6.1% | 11 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
| 3 | CIP 19.0711In California → | 15 | 0.1% | 1 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 12 of the 119 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City College of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 905 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 40% | — | — |
| 2 | Cerritos College Norwalk, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 684 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 31% | — | — |
| 3 | Los Angeles Valley College Valley Glen, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 520 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 32% | — | — |
| 4 | College of the Sequoias Visalia, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 442 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $18,158 | 39% | — | — |
| 5 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 336 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 36% | — | — |
| 6 | Merritt College Oakland, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 324 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 26% | — | — |
| 7 | East Los Angeles College Monterey Park, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 289 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $10,032 | 37% | — | — |
| 8 | Santa Ana College Santa Ana, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 277 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $23,863 | 31% | — | — |
| 9 | Lemoore College Lemoore, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 272 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $23,860 | 49% | — | — |
| 10 | Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 255 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $15,819 | 30% | — | — |
| 11 | Fresno City College Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 236 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $30,519 | 24% | — | — |
| 12 | Los Angeles Mission College Sylmar, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 231 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 20% | — | — |
| 13 | Antelope Valley Community College District Lancaster, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 226 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 34% | — | — |
| 14 | Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 223 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 45% | — | — |
| 15 | Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 221 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 49% | — | — |
| 16 | MiraCosta College Oceanside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 217 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 41% | — | — |
| 17 | Coalinga College Coalinga, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 210 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | $18,810 | 43% | — | — |
| 18 | Rio Hondo College Whittier, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 209 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 25% | — | — |
| 19 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 206 | Child Development | $30,205 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 20 | Riverside City College Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 204 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 37% | — | — |
| 21 | Chabot College Hayward, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 199 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 47% | — | — |
| 22 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 191 | Child Development | — | 55% | — | 94% |
| 23 | Cuesta College San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 180 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 48% | — | — |
| 24 | Moorpark College Moorpark, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 170 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 44% | — | — |
| 25 | Los Angeles Pierce College Woodland Hills, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 166 | Child Care Provider/Assistant | — | 46% | — | — |
All 119 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City College of San Francisco | San Francisco | Public | 905 | 1 |
| Cerritos College | Norwalk | Public | 684 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Valley College | Valley Glen | Public | 520 | 1 |
| College of the Sequoias | Visalia | Public | 442 | 1 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 336 | 1 |
| Merritt College | Oakland | Public | 324 | 1 |
| East Los Angeles College | Monterey Park | Public | 289 | 1 |
| Santa Ana College | Santa Ana | Public | 277 | 1 |
| Lemoore College | Lemoore | Public | 272 | 1 |
| Modesto Junior College | Modesto | Public | 255 | 1 |
| Fresno City College | Fresno | Public | 236 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Mission College | Sylmar | Public | 231 | 1 |
| Antelope Valley Community College District | Lancaster | Public | 226 | 1 |
| Mt San Antonio College | Walnut | Public | 223 | 1 |
| Diablo Valley College | Pleasant Hill | Public | 221 | 1 |
What childcare workers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $34,980. 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 Childcare Workers page.
How to become a Childcare Worker
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job 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 3 majors mapped to Childcare Workers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 19.0706Child Development
- 19.0709Child Care Provider/Assistant
- 19.0711Early Childhood and Family Studies
Common questions
Answers for people weighing childcare workers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Childcare Worker?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Child Care Provider/Assistant, which awarded 12,656 degrees in California in 2024-25, 93.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Childcare Worker?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Human Development. Together they graduate about 13,488 people a year in California.
How much do childcare workers earn in California?+
The median is $40,020 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 14.4% above the U.S. median of $34,980. 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 childcare workers growing?+
BLS projects a -2.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 160,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
119 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 childcare workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Nanny, House Manager, Infant Teacher, Toddler Teacher, Family Assistant, Child Care Worker among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-9011.
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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