Best Genetic Counselor programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects.
8 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 262 people a year. The job pays a median of $137,650 in California across about 440 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.
4 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 | Genetics, Generalmain feeder CIP 26.0801In California → | 104 | 39.7% | 4 | $31,800 | $21,424 |
| 2 | Human/Medical Geneticsmain feeder CIP 26.0806In California → | 94 | 35.9% | 4 | $31,800 | $21,424 |
| 3 | CIP 51.1509In California → | 63 | 24.0% | 5 | $37,335 | $22,861 |
| 4 | Molecular Geneticsmain feeder CIP 26.0802In California → | 1 | 0.4% | 1 | $31,800 | $21,424 |
Top 8 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 93 | Genetics, General | $41,334 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 2 | Southern California University of Health Sciences Whittier, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 57 | Human/Medical Genetics | — | 50% | $45,633 | — |
| 3 | Keck Graduate Institute Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 34 | Genetic Counseling/Counselor | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Human/Medical Genetics | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 5 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Genetic Counseling/Counselor | — | 87% | — | 29% |
| 6 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Genetic Counseling/Counselor | — | 93% | — | 9% |
| 7 | University of California - San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Genetic Counseling/Counselor | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Molecular Genetics | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
All 8 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 California - Davis | Davis | Public | 93 | 1 |
| Southern California University of Health Sciences | Whittier | Private not-for-profit | 57 | 3 |
| Keck Graduate Institute | Claremont | Private not-for-profit | 34 | 2 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 19 | 2 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 17 | 2 |
| University of California - San Francisco | San Francisco | Public | 14 | 2 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What genetic counselors earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $100,040. 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 Genetic Counselors page.
How to become a Genetic Counselor
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 7 majors mapped to Genetic Counselors6 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 26.0801Genetics, General
- 26.0802Molecular Genetics
- 26.0806Human/Medical Genetics
- 26.0807Genome Sciences/Genomics
- 26.0899Genetics, Other
- 51.1509Genetic Counseling/Counselor
- 51.2214Public Health Genetics(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing genetic counselors programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Genetic Counselor?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Genetics, General, which awarded 104 degrees in California in 2024-25, 39.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Genetic Counselor?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Genetics, Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 262 people a year in California.
How much do genetic counselors earn in California?+
The median is $137,650 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 37.6% above the U.S. median of $100,040. 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 genetic counselors growing?+
BLS projects a +9.3% 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?+
8 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 genetic counselors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Genetic Counselor, Certified Genetic Counselor, Prenatal and Pediatric Genetic Counselor, Reproductive Genetic Counseling Coordinator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-9092.
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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