Best Food Scientist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Use chemistry, microbiology, engineering, and other sciences to study the principles underlying the processing and deterioration of foods; analyze food content to determine levels of vitamins, fat, sugar, and protein; discover new food.
18 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 479 people a year. The job pays a median of $93,950 in California across about 2,210 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.
6 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 | Food Sciencemain feeder CIP 01.1001In California → | 155 | 32.4% | 5 | $51,883 | $21,000 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0000In California → | 149 | 31.1% | 5 | $39,350 | $20,340 |
| 3 | Viticulture and Enologymain feeder CIP 01.1004In California → | 106 | 22.1% | 9 | $51,883 | $21,000 |
| 4 | Food Technology and Processingmain feeder CIP 01.1002In California → | 27 | 5.6% | 4 | $51,883 | $21,000 |
| 5 | Food Science and Technology, Othermain feeder CIP 01.1099In California → | 27 | 5.6% | 1 | $51,883 | $21,000 |
| 6 | International Agriculturemain feeder CIP 01.0701In California → | 15 | 3.1% | 1 | $52,068 | $16,900 |
Top 18 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 18 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 134 | Agriculture, General | $64,786 | 86% | — | 31% |
| 2 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 112 | Food Science | $52,084 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 3 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 55 | Food Science | $45,796 | 57% | — | 95% |
| 4 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 36 | Agriculture, General | — | 68% | — | 75% |
| 5 | California State University - Chico Chico, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Agriculture, General | — | 63% | — | 93% |
| 6 | California State University - Stanislaus Turlock, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Agriculture, General | $43,101 | 53% | — | 98% |
| 7 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 37% | — | — |
| 8 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Food Science | — | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 9 | Hartnell College Salinas, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Food Technology and Processing | — | 40% | — | — |
| 10 | California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Food Technology and Processing | $52,806 | 53% | — | 91% |
| 11 | Bakersfield College Bakersfield, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Food Technology and Processing | — | 21% | — | — |
| 12 | Las Positas College Livermore, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 53% | — | — |
| 13 | Napa Valley College Napa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 43% | — | — |
| 14 | College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 45% | — | — |
| 15 | MiraCosta College Oceanside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 41% | — | — |
| 16 | Allan Hancock College Santa Maria, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 26% | — | — |
| 17 | Cabrillo College Aptos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Viticulture and Enology | — | 38% | — | — |
| 18 | San Diego Mesa College San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Food Technology and Processing | — | 35% | — | — |
All 18 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 | 134 | 3 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 112 | 3 |
| California State University - Fresno | Fresno | Public | 55 | 3 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 36 | 2 |
| California State University - Chico | Chico | Public | 27 | 1 |
| California State University - Stanislaus | Turlock | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Santa Rosa Junior College | Santa Rosa | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Chapman University | Orange | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| Hartnell College | Salinas | Public | 10 | 1 |
| California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Bakersfield College | Bakersfield | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Las Positas College | Livermore | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Napa Valley College | Napa | Public | 5 | 1 |
| College of the Canyons | Santa Clarita | Public | 4 | 1 |
| MiraCosta College | Oceanside | Public | 4 | 1 |
What food scientists and technologists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $88,720. 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 Food Scientists and Technologists page.
How to become a Food Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
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 9 majors mapped to Food Scientists and Technologists9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0000Agriculture, General
- 01.0701International Agriculture
- 01.1001Food Science
- 01.1002Food Technology and Processing
- 01.1003Brewing Science
- 01.1004Viticulture and Enology
- 01.1005Zymology/Fermentation Science
- 01.1099Food Science and Technology, Other
- 12.0509Culinary Science/Culinology
Common questions
Answers for people weighing food scientists and technologists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Food Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Food Science, which awarded 155 degrees in California in 2024-25, 32.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Food Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Food Science and Technology, Agriculture, International Agriculture. Together they graduate about 479 people a year in California.
How much do food scientists and technologists earn in California?+
The median is $93,950 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.9% above the U.S. median of $88,720. 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 food scientists and technologists growing?+
BLS projects a +6.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
18 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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 food scientists and technologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Research Chef, Food Scientist, Food Technologist, Food and Drug Research Scientist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-1012.
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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