Best Camera Operator programs in Iowa, ranked by enrollment
Operate television, video, or film camera to record images or scenes for television, video, or film.
6 schools in Iowa run programs that feed this job, graduating 55 people a year. The job pays a median of $57,220 in Iowa across about 90 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Iowa that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (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 Iowa page.
Top 6 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 6 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 39% | — | — |
| 2 | Iowa Western Community College Council Bluffs, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician | $24,428 | 40% | — | — |
| 3 | Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician | — | 50% | — | — |
| 4 | William Penn University Oskaloosa, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 33% | $21,533 | 52% |
| 5 | Maharishi International University Fairfield, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 50% | $19,927 | 96% |
| 6 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $26,147 | 75% | — | 84% |
All 6 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines Area Community College | Ankeny | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Iowa Western Community College | Council Bluffs | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Western Iowa Tech Community College | Sioux City | Public | 13 | 1 |
| William Penn University | Oskaloosa | Private not-for-profit | 8 | 1 |
| Maharishi International University | Fairfield | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| University of Iowa | Iowa City | Public | 1 | 1 |
What camera operators, television, video, and film earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,990. Iowa 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 Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film page.
How to become a Camera Operator
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
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 Iowa
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 10.0202Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician
- 10.0299Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians, Other
- 50.0602Cinematography and Film/Video Production
- 50.0607Documentary Production
Common questions
Answers for people weighing camera operators, television, video, and film programs in Iowa.
What degree do you need to become a Camera Operator?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Cinematography and Film/Video Production, which awarded 28 degrees in Iowa in 2024-25, 50.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Camera Operator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 55 people a year in Iowa.
How much do camera operators, television, video, and film earn in Iowa?+
The median is $57,220 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 23.7% below the U.S. median of $74,990. 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 camera operators, television, video, and film growing?+
BLS projects a +1.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 2,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Iowa?+
6 institutions in Iowa 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 camera operators, television, video, and film work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Cameraman, Videographer, Camera Operator, Television News Photographer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-4031.
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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