Best Forest Fire Inspector programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Enforce fire regulations, inspect forest for fire hazards, and recommend forest fire prevention or control measures.
31 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,362 people a year. The job pays a median of $97,370 in California across about 480 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.
2 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 43.0203In California → | 1,285 | 94.3% | 27 | $48,952 | $12,750 |
| 2 | CIP 43.0206In California → | 77 | 5.7% | 7 | $48,952 | $12,750 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 31 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Los Angeles College Monterey Park, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 315 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 37% | — | — |
| 2 | Shasta College Redding, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 154 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 23% | — | — |
| 3 | Moreno Valley College Moreno Valley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 114 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 34% | — | — |
| 4 | Rio Hondo College Whittier, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 101 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 25% | — | — |
| 5 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 37% | — | — |
| 6 | Palomar College San Marcos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 38% | — | — |
| 7 | Butte College Oroville, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 45% | — | — |
| 8 | Lake Tahoe Community College South Lake Tahoe, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 45% | — | — |
| 9 | El Camino Community College District Torrance, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 42% | — | — |
| 10 | Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $50,364 | 30% | — | — |
| 11 | Yuba College Marysville, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 40% | — | — |
| 12 | Allan Hancock College Santa Maria, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 39 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 26% | — | — |
| 13 | Fresno City College Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 24% | — | — |
| 14 | Imperial Valley College Imperial, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 45% | — | — |
| 15 | Victor Valley College Victorville, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Wildland/Forest Firefighting and Investigation | — | 62% | — | — |
| 16 | Crafton Hills College Yucaipa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 31% | — | — |
| 17 | Monterey Peninsula College Monterey, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 40% | — | — |
| 18 | Antelope Valley Community College District Lancaster, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Wildland/Forest Firefighting and Investigation | — | 34% | — | — |
| 19 | College of the Siskiyous Weed, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 33% | — | — |
| 20 | Oxnard College Oxnard, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 34% | — | — |
| 21 | Southwestern College Chula Vista, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 35% | — | — |
| 22 | Chabot College Hayward, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 47% | — | — |
| 23 | Sierra College Rocklin, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 42% | — | — |
| 24 | City College of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 40% | — | — |
| 25 | College of the Desert Palm Desert, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 31% | — | — |
All 31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Los Angeles College | Monterey Park | Public | 315 | 1 |
| Shasta College | Redding | Public | 154 | 1 |
| Moreno Valley College | Moreno Valley | Public | 114 | 1 |
| Rio Hondo College | Whittier | Public | 101 | 2 |
| Santa Rosa Junior College | Santa Rosa | Public | 77 | 1 |
| Palomar College | San Marcos | Public | 72 | 1 |
| Butte College | Oroville | Public | 48 | 1 |
| Lake Tahoe Community College | South Lake Tahoe | Public | 42 | 1 |
| El Camino Community College District | Torrance | Public | 40 | 1 |
| Modesto Junior College | Modesto | Public | 40 | 1 |
| Yuba College | Marysville | Public | 40 | 1 |
| Allan Hancock College | Santa Maria | Public | 39 | 2 |
| Fresno City College | Fresno | Public | 35 | 1 |
| Imperial Valley College | Imperial | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Victor Valley College | Victorville | Public | 31 | 1 |
What forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $56,870. 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 Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists page.
How to become a Forest Fire Inspector
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
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 3 majors mapped to Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
- 43.0203Fire Science/Fire-fighting
- 43.0206Wildland/Forest Firefighting and Investigation
Common questions
Answers for people weighing forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Forest Fire Inspector?+
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 Fire Science/Fire-fighting, which awarded 1,285 degrees in California in 2024-25, 94.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Forest Fire Inspector?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fire Protection. Together they graduate about 1,362 people a year in California.
How much do forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists earn in California?+
The median is $97,370 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 71.2% above the U.S. median of $56,870. 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 forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +14.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
31 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Forest Officer, Forest Patrolman, Fire Management Officer, Fire Prevention Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-2022.
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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