Best Dental Hygienist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention.
26 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 942 people a year. The job pays a median of $124,930 in California across about 24,500 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.
1 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 51.0602In California → | 942 | 100.0% | 26 | $28,924 | $10,782 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 26 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cypress College Cypress, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 37% | — | — |
| 2 | West Coast University - Anaheim - Orange County Anaheim, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $73,751 | 60% | $36,879 | — |
| 3 | West Los Angeles College Culver City, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 69 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 28% | — | — |
| 4 | Concorde Career College - Garden Grove Garden Grove, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 64 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $22,994 | 84% | $23,570 | 97% |
| 5 | Concorde Career College - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $23,384 | 76% | $24,160 | 98% |
| 6 | San Joaquin Valley College - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $67,916 | 64% | $26,900 | — |
| 7 | Carrington College - San Jose San Jose, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $70,541 | 60% | $32,608 | — |
| 8 | Foothill College Los Altos Hills, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $81,255 | 56% | — | — |
| 9 | Concorde Career College - San Diego San Diego, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $29,687 | 76% | $25,970 | 100% |
| 10 | Pasadena City College Pasadena, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 48% | — | — |
| 11 | San Joaquin Valley College - Visalia Visalia, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $27,039 | 36% | $30,518 | — |
| 12 | Carrington College - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $70,541 | 51% | $38,203 | — |
| 13 | Fresno City College Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 24% | — | — |
| 14 | Southwestern College Chula Vista, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $67,733 | 35% | — | — |
| 15 | University of the Pacific Stockton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 69% | $23,964 | 71% |
| 16 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 37% | — | — |
| 17 | Cerritos College Norwalk, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $34,175 | 31% | — | — |
| 18 | Chabot College Hayward, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $85,175 | 47% | — | — |
| 19 | Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 49% | — | — |
| 20 | Cabrillo College Aptos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $74,741 | 38% | — | — |
| 21 | Taft College Taft, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 28% | — | — |
| 22 | Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | $67,159 | — | — | — |
| 23 | Oxnard College Oxnard, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 34% | — | — |
| 24 | Sacramento City College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 33% | — | — |
| 25 | Moreno Valley College Moreno Valley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Dental Hygiene/Hygienist | — | 34% | — | — |
All 26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cypress College | Cypress | Public | 82 | 1 |
| West Coast University - Anaheim - Orange County | Anaheim | Private for-profit | 72 | 1 |
| West Los Angeles College | Culver City | Public | 69 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - Garden Grove | Garden Grove | Private for-profit | 64 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Private for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Ontario | Ontario | Private for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| Carrington College - San Jose | San Jose | Private for-profit | 57 | 1 |
| Foothill College | Los Altos Hills | Public | 50 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - San Diego | San Diego | Private for-profit | 46 | 1 |
| Pasadena City College | Pasadena | Public | 46 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Visalia | Visalia | Private for-profit | 41 | 1 |
| Carrington College - Sacramento | Sacramento | Private for-profit | 29 | 1 |
| Fresno City College | Fresno | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Southwestern College | Chula Vista | Public | 29 | 1 |
| University of the Pacific | Stockton | Private not-for-profit | 25 | 1 |
What dental hygienists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $98,100. 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 Dental Hygienists page.
How to become a Dental Hygienist
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate'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 1 majors mapped to Dental Hygienists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0602Dental Hygiene/Hygienist
Common questions
Answers for people weighing dental hygienists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Dental Hygienist?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Dental Hygiene/Hygienist, which awarded 942 degrees in California in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Dental Hygienist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 942 people a year in California.
How much do dental hygienists earn in California?+
The median is $124,930 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 27.3% above the U.S. median of $98,100. 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 dental hygienists growing?+
BLS projects a +7.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 15,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
26 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 dental hygienists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Hygienist, Dental Hygienist, Licensed Dental Hygienist, Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1292.
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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