Best Farmer programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments.
65 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 3,282 people a year. The job pays a median of $109,140 in California across about 1,650 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.
17 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 01.0102In California → | 952 | 29.0% | 34 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0901In California → | 778 | 23.7% | 5 | $33,926 | $21,748 |
| 3 | Crop Productionmain feeder CIP 01.0304In California → | 372 | 11.3% | 26 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 4 | Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Productionmain feeder CIP 01.0302In California → | 311 | 9.5% | 13 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 5 | CIP 01.0601In California → | 230 | 7.0% | 32 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 6 | CIP 01.1102In California → | 156 | 4.8% | 4 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 7 | CIP 01.1105In California → | 115 | 3.5% | 8 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 8 | CIP 01.1004In California → | 106 | 3.2% | 9 | $51,883 | $21,000 |
| 9 | Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculturemain feeder CIP 01.0308In California → | 66 | 2.0% | 2 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 10 | CIP 01.0307In California → | 55 | 1.7% | 10 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 11 | CIP 01.1101In California → | 45 | 1.4% | 2 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 12 | CIP 01.0606In California → | 42 | 1.3% | 11 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 13 | CIP 01.0999In California → | 18 | 0.5% | 1 | $33,926 | $21,748 |
| 14 | Dairy Husbandry and Productionmain feeder CIP 01.0306In California → | 12 | 0.4% | 2 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 15 | CIP 01.1106In California → | 10 | 0.3% | 2 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 16 | Agricultural Business and Management, Othermain feeder CIP 01.0199In California → | 9 | 0.3% | 2 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 17 | CIP 01.0905In California → | 5 | 0.2% | 1 | $33,926 | $21,748 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 65 schools in this state.
All 65 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 442 | 5 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 421 | 5 |
| California State University - Fresno | Fresno | Public | 294 | 4 |
| Reedley College | Reedley | Public | 263 | 5 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 189 | 4 |
| California State University - Chico | Chico | Public | 164 | 3 |
| Bakersfield College | Bakersfield | Public | 130 | 5 |
| Modesto Junior College | Modesto | Public | 120 | 7 |
| Merced College | Merced | Public | 109 | 5 |
| College of the Sequoias | Visalia | Public | 102 | 6 |
| Coalinga College | Coalinga | Public | 97 | 3 |
| Mt San Antonio College | Walnut | Public | 75 | 7 |
| Hartnell College | Salinas | Public | 55 | 2 |
| Moorpark College | Moorpark | Public | 53 | 1 |
| Feather River Community College District | Quincy | Public | 45 | 3 |
What farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $89,900. 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 Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers page.
How to become a Farmer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
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 25 majors mapped to Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers23 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0101Agricultural Business and Management, General
- 01.0102Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations
- 01.0104Farm/Farm and Ranch Management
- 01.0199Agricultural Business and Management, Other
- 01.0301Agricultural Production Operations, General
- 01.0302Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Production
- 01.0303Aquaculture
- 01.0304Crop Production
- 01.0306Dairy Husbandry and Production
- 01.0307Horse Husbandry/Equine Science and Management
- 01.0308Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- 01.0310Apiculture(no graduates reported)
- 01.0399Agricultural Production Operations, Other
- 01.0601Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General
- 01.0603Ornamental Horticulture
- 01.0604Greenhouse Operations and Management
- 01.0606Plant Nursery Operations and Management
- 01.0609Public Horticulture(no graduates reported)
- 01.0610Urban and Community Horticulture
- 01.0901Animal Sciences, General
- 01.0902Agricultural Animal Breeding
- 01.0903Animal Health
- 01.0904Animal Nutrition
- 01.0905Dairy Science
- 01.0906Livestock Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Farmer?+
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 Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations, which awarded 952 degrees in California in 2024-25, 29.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Farmer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 17 programs to this occupation. The largest are Agricultural Business and Management, Agricultural Production Operations, Animal Sciences, Plant Sciences, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 3,282 people a year in California.
How much do farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers earn in California?+
The median is $109,140 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.4% above the U.S. median of $89,900. 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 farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers growing?+
BLS projects a -1.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 85,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
65 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 17 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 farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Farm Manager, Ranch Manager, Greenhouse Manager, Aquaculture Director among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9013.
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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