Best Cost Estimator programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Prepare cost estimates for product manufacturing, construction projects, or services to aid management in bidding on or determining price of product or service.
226 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 65,388 people a year. The job pays a median of $85,460 in California across about 26,020 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 | CIP 52.0201In California → | 56,548 | 86.5% | 218 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 14.1901In California → | 5,001 | 7.6% | 30 | $70,724 | $24,833 |
| 3 | CIP 52.0101In California → | 2,849 | 4.4% | 67 | $44,700 | $24,000 |
| 4 | CIP 14.1801In California → | 476 | 0.7% | 14 | $74,110 | $23,250 |
| 5 | CIP 15.1001In California → | 368 | 0.6% | 7 | $72,178 | $22,750 |
| 6 | CIP 14.3601In California → | 108 | 0.2% | 7 | $72,154 | $21,457 |
| 7 | CIP 14.3301In California → | 38 | 0.1% | 2 | $75,998 | $25,314 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 88 of the 226 schools in this state.
All 226 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 the People | Pasadena | Private not-for-profit | 4,072 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 2,703 | 4 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 2,439 | 2 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 2,029 | 3 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 1,983 | 3 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 1,705 | 5 |
| Cerritos College | Norwalk | Public | 1,617 | 1 |
| California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento | Public | 1,466 | 3 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 1,459 | 5 |
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 1,227 | 4 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 1,173 | 3 |
| Golden Gate University | San Francisco | Private not-for-profit | 1,167 | 1 |
| California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 1,057 | 3 |
| Pasadena City College | Pasadena | Public | 1,057 | 1 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 999 | 4 |
What cost estimators earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $78,740. 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 Cost Estimators page.
How to become a Cost Estimator
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational 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 7 majors mapped to Cost Estimators7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.1801Materials Engineering
- 14.1901Mechanical Engineering
- 14.3301Construction Engineering
- 14.3601Manufacturing Engineering
- 15.1001Construction Engineering Technology/Technician
- 52.0101Business/Commerce, General
- 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing cost estimators programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Cost Estimator?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Business Administration and Management, General, which awarded 56,548 degrees in California in 2024-25, 86.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Cost Estimator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Mechanical Engineering, Business/Commerce, Materials Engineering, plus 3 more. Together they graduate about 65,388 people a year in California.
How much do cost estimators earn in California?+
The median is $85,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.5% above the U.S. median of $78,740. 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 cost estimators growing?+
BLS projects a -4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 16,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
226 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 cost estimators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Estimator, Cost Analyst, Cost Estimator, Construction Estimator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1051.
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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