Best Database Architect programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Set standards for database operations, programming, query processes, and security.
202 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 32,071 people a year. The job pays a median of $170,160 in California across about 6,210 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.
13 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 11.0701In California → | 16,990 | 53.0% | 136 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0103In California → | 3,881 | 12.1% | 95 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 3 | CIP 11.0101In California → | 2,931 | 9.1% | 52 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 4 | CIP 11.1003In California → | 2,662 | 8.3% | 66 | $48,185 | $25,250 |
| 5 | CIP 14.0901In California → | 2,585 | 8.1% | 30 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 6 | CIP 11.0401In California → | 860 | 2.7% | 9 | $57,313 | $25,833 |
| 7 | CIP 14.0903In California → | 690 | 2.2% | 14 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 8 | CIP 30.7001In California → | 616 | 1.9% | 13 | — | — |
| 9 | CIP 14.2701In California → | 426 | 1.3% | 7 | $79,942 | $20,500 |
| 10 | CIP 11.0802In California → | 165 | 0.5% | 17 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 11 | CIP 11.0501In California → | 128 | 0.4% | 14 | $51,805 | $46,000 |
| 12 | CIP 52.1201In California → | 71 | 0.2% | 3 | $59,352 | $24,618 |
| 13 | CIP 11.0902In California → | 66 | 0.2% | 3 | $43,901 | $22,822 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 44 of the 202 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of the People Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 2,005 | Computer and Information Sciences, General | — | 34% | — | — |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 1,859 | Computer Science | $137,284 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 1,699 | Computer Science | $149,866 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 4 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 1,512 | Computer Science | $112,006 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 5 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 1,266 | Computer Science | $82,161 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 6 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 1,098 | Computer Science | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 7 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 1,041 | Computer Science | $138,613 | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 8 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 913 | Computer Science | $75,150 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 9 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 901 | Computer Science | $57,307 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 10 | California Institute of Arts & Technology National City, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 747 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | — | 56% | $34,431 | — |
| 11 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 703 | Computer Science | — | 86% | — | 42% |
| 12 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 690 | Computer Science | — | 93% | — | 9% |
| 13 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 681 | Computer Science | $81,034 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 14 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 659 | Computer Science | $60,378 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 15 | DeVry University - California Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 598 | Information Technology | — | 22% | $35,320 | 99% |
| 16 | Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA Public · 6 feeder programs | 575 | Systems Engineering | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 570 | Computer Science | $60,740 | 68% | — | 75% |
| 18 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 498 | Computer Science | $62,821 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 19 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 492 | Computer Science | $45,846 | 55% | — | 94% |
| 20 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 455 | Computer Science | $60,028 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 21 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 455 | Computer Science | $74,523 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 22 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 455 | Computer Engineering, General | $103,804 | 88% | $44,094 | 48% |
| 23 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 433 | Computer Science | $111,141 | 86% | — | 31% |
| 24 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 392 | Computer Science | $50,553 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 25 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 376 | Computer Science | $107,776 | 83% | — | 33% |
All 202 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 | 2,005 | 2 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 1,859 | 6 |
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 1,699 | 3 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 1,512 | 5 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 1,266 | 3 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 1,098 | 5 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 1,041 | 2 |
| University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | Public | 913 | 2 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 901 | 4 |
| California Institute of Arts & Technology | National City | Private for-profit | 747 | 2 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 703 | 4 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 690 | 3 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 681 | 4 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 659 | 2 |
| DeVry University - California | Ontario | Private for-profit | 598 | 3 |
What database architects earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $139,500. 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 Database Architects page.
How to become a Database Architect
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
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 14 majors mapped to Database Architects14 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0401Information Science/Studies
- 11.0501Computer Systems Analysis/Analyst
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0802Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration
- 11.0902Cloud Computing
- 11.1003Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0903Computer Software Engineering
- 14.2701Systems Engineering
- 30.7001Data Science, General
- 30.7099Data Science, Other
- 52.1201Management Information Systems, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing database architects programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Database Architect?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer Science, which awarded 16,990 degrees in California in 2024-25, 53.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Database Architect?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 13 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer Science, Computer and Information Sciences, Computer Engineering, Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, plus 7 more. Together they graduate about 32,071 people a year in California.
How much do database architects earn in California?+
The median is $170,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 22.0% above the U.S. median of $139,500. 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 database architects growing?+
BLS projects a +8.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 4,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
202 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 13 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 database architects work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Database Analyst, Database Developer, Database Programmer, Information Architect, Data Warehouse Analyst, Data Warehouse Solution Architect among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1243.
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