Best Orthopedic Surgeon programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Diagnose and perform surgery to treat and prevent rheumatic and other diseases in the musculoskeletal.
14 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,029 people a year. The job pays a median of $253,430 in California across about — 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 51.1201In California → | 1,476 | 72.7% | 11 | $33,290 | $23,488 |
| 2 | CIP 51.1202In California → | 553 | 27.3% | 3 | $33,290 | $23,488 |
Top 14 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 14 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 318 | Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 188 | Medicine | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 182 | Medicine | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | University of California - San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 180 | Medicine | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 156 | Medicine | — | 93% | — | 9% |
| 6 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 134 | Medicine | — | 86% | — | 27% |
| 7 | California University of Science and Medicine Colton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 129 | Medicine | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Touro University California Vallejo, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 126 | Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy | — | — | — | 0% |
| 9 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 121 | Medicine | — | 86% | — | 42% |
| 10 | California Northstate University Elk Grove, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 111 | Medicine | — | 100% | — | 92% |
| 11 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 110 | Medicine | — | 87% | — | 29% |
| 12 | California Health Sciences University Clovis, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 109 | Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 89 | Medicine | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 14 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 76 | Medicine | — | 76% | — | 76% |
All 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western University of Health Sciences | Pomona | Private not-for-profit | 318 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 188 | 1 |
| Loma Linda University | Loma Linda | Private not-for-profit | 182 | 1 |
| University of California - San Francisco | San Francisco | Public | 180 | 1 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 156 | 1 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 134 | 1 |
| California University of Science and Medicine | Colton | Private not-for-profit | 129 | 1 |
| Touro University California | Vallejo | Private not-for-profit | 126 | 1 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 121 | 1 |
| California Northstate University | Elk Grove | Private for-profit | 111 | 1 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 110 | 1 |
| California Health Sciences University | Clovis | Private for-profit | 109 | 1 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 89 | 1 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 76 | 1 |
What orthopedic surgeons earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $358,550. California pays below the national figure.
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 Orthopedic Surgeons page.
How to become a Orthopedic Surgeon
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
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.
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 6 majors mapped to Orthopedic Surgeons2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.1201Medicine
- 51.1202Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy
- 61.0214Surgery of the Hand Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.1501Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.1504Orthopedic Surgery of the Spine Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.1599Orthopedic Surgery Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing orthopedic surgeons programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Orthopedic Surgeon?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Medicine, which awarded 1,476 degrees in California in 2024-25, 72.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Medicine. Together they graduate about 2,029 people a year in California.
How much do orthopedic surgeons earn in California?+
The median is $253,430 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 29.3% below the U.S. median of $358,550. 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 orthopedic surgeons growing?+
BLS projects a +4.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
14 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 orthopedic surgeons work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Surgeon, Physician, Hand Surgeon, Orthopedic Surgeon among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1242.
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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