Best degree programs for Podiatrists, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 9 schools train Podiatrists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $160,300 median wage, 9,680 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 9 schools train podiatrists, graduating 536 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry. The job pays a median of $160,300 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About podiatrists
Diagnose and treat diseases and deformities of the human foot.
A podiatrist is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for all practitioners of podiatric medicine. In the United States, the term chiropodist was previously used, but is now regarded as antiquated.
Read more on Wikipedia →Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.1203 | 536 | 100.0% | 9 | $33,290 | $23,488 |
Top 9 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York College of Podiatric Medicine New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 91 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | — | — | — |
| 2 | Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 88 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | 64% | — | 86% |
| 3 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | 75% | — | 80% |
| 4 | Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science North Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 75 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | — | — | — |
| 5 | Barry University Miami, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | 38% | $24,719 | 77% |
| 6 | Des Moines University - Osteopathic Medical Center West Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | — | — | — |
| 7 | Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | — | — | — |
| 8 | Samuel Merritt University Oakland, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | — | — | — |
| 9 | Midwestern University - Glendale Glendale, AZ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry | — | — | — |
What podiatrists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Yorklimited | $108,460 | 1,520 | 2.52× | 1 | 91 |
| Ohiolimited | $129,380 | 350 | 1.01× | 1 | 88 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $155,050 | 390 | 1.04× | 1 | 77 |
| Illinoislimited | $167,400 | — | — | 1 | 75 |
| Californialimited | $201,300 | 1,000 | 0.88× | 2 | 71 |
| Floridalimited | $138,340 | 870 | 1.41× | 1 | 54 |
| Iowalimited | $134,830 | 100 | 1.00× | 1 | 50 |
| Arizonalimited | $133,190 | 270 | 1.32× | 1 | 30 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Treat bone, muscle, and joint disorders affecting the feet and ankles.
- Diagnose diseases and deformities of the foot using medical histories, physical examinations, x-rays, and laboratory test results.
- Advise patients about treatments and foot care techniques necessary for prevention of future problems.
- Prescribe medications, corrective devices, physical therapy, or surgery.
- Surgically treat conditions such as corns, calluses, ingrown nails, tumors, shortened tendons, bunions, cysts, or abscesses.
- Refer patients to physicians when symptoms indicative of systemic disorders, such as arthritis or diabetes, are observed in feet and legs.
- Make and fit prosthetic appliances.
- Correct deformities by means of plaster casts and strapping.
Skills
- Active Listening4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Active Learning4.0
- Speaking4.0
- Writing3.9
- Monitoring3.9
- Science3.5
Knowledge areas
- Medicine and Dentistry5.0
- Customer and Personal Service4.6
- English Language4.6
- Education and Training4.1
- Computers and Electronics3.8
- Biology3.8
Abilities
- Deductive Reasoning4.3
- Written Expression4.1
- Inductive Reasoning4.1
- Problem Sensitivity4.1
- Written Comprehension4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.0
Core activities
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.9
- Documenting/Recording Information4.6
- Working with Computers4.5
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.3
- Getting Information4.3
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Podiatrist
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Podiatrists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.1203Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry
- 61.2201Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2299Podiatric Medicine Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Podiatrist?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry, which awarded 536 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Podiatrist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Medicine. Together they graduate about 536 people a year.
How much do podiatrists earn?+
The median is $160,300 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $66,010 at the 10th percentile to $309,670 at the 90th. 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 podiatrists growing?+
BLS projects a +1.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
9 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 podiatrists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Podiatrist, Podiatric Surgeon, Doctor Podiatric Medicine (DPM), Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1081.
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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