Best Geographer programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena.
16 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 192 people a year. The job pays a median of $92,640 in Illinois across about 40 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (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 Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geographymain feeder CIP 45.0701In Illinois → | 77 | 40.1% | 10 | $38,944 | $22,762 |
| 2 | CIP 45.0702In Illinois → | 77 | 40.1% | 7 | $38,944 | $22,762 |
| 3 | Geography and Environmental Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.4401In Illinois → | 38 | 19.8% | 3 | — | — |
Top 16 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 16 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Geography | $34,952 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 2 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 29 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | $47,464 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 3 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | $42,214 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 4 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Geography and Environmental Studies | — | 57% | — | 97% |
| 5 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 45% | — | 71% |
| 6 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Geography | — | 47% | — | 65% |
| 7 | William Rainey Harper College Palatine, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 48% | — | — |
| 8 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Geography | $40,683 | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
| 9 | Chicago State University Chicago, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Geography | — | 15% | — | 43% |
| 10 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Geography | — | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 11 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 12 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Geography | — | 22% | — | 75% |
| 13 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Geography | — | 49% | — | 70% |
| 14 | College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Geography | — | 25% | — | — |
| 15 | Lake Land College Mattoon, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Geography | — | 58% | — | — |
| 16 | Lincoln Land Community College Springfield, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Geographic Information Science and Cartography | — | 48% | — | — |
All 16 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 31 | 1 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 2 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 27 | 2 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 26 | 1 |
| Western Illinois University | Macomb | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Eastern Illinois University | Charleston | Public | 12 | 2 |
| William Rainey Harper College | Palatine | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Augustana College | Rock Island | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Chicago State University | Chicago | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Elmhurst University | Elmhurst | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Northeastern Illinois University | Chicago | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 4 | 1 |
| College of DuPage | Glen Ellyn | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Lake Land College | Mattoon | Public | 1 | 1 |
What geographers earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $102,040. Illinois pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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 Geographers page.
How to become a Geographer
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 Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 10 majors mapped to Geographers10 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.3501Climate Science
- 30.3801Earth Systems Science
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 30.4401Geography and Environmental Studies
- 43.0407Geospatial Intelligence
- 45.0701Geography
- 45.0702Geographic Information Science and Cartography
- 45.0799Geography, Other
- 45.1501Geography and Anthropology
- 51.3204Medical/Health Humanities
Common questions
Answers for people weighing geographers programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Geographer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geography, which awarded 77 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 40.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Geographer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geography and Cartography, Geography and Environmental Studies. Together they graduate about 192 people a year in Illinois.
How much do geographers earn in Illinois?+
The median is $92,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.2% below the U.S. median of $102,040. 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 geographers growing?+
BLS projects a -3.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
16 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 geographers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Geographer, Earth Observations Scientist, GIS Geographer (Geographic Information Systems Geographer), GIS Coordinator (Geographic Information Systems Coordinator) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3092.
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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