Best degree programs for Sociologists, ranked by enrollment
11 college programs and 1,156 schools train Sociologists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $106,030 median wage, 2,260 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
11 college programs at 1,156 schools train sociologists, graduating 42,513 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Sociology, General. The job pays a median of $106,030 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About sociologists
Study human society and social behavior by examining the groups and social institutions that people form, as well as various social, religious, political, and business organizations. May study the behavior and interaction of groups, trace their origin and growth, and analyze the influence of group activities on individual members.
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.
11 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 | Sociology, Generalmain feeder CIP 45.1101 | 27,731 | 65.2% | 1,030 | $34,099 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Criminologymain feeder CIP 45.0401 | 10,118 | 23.8% | 230 | $37,366 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 45.0102 | 2,284 | 5.4% | 65 | $35,590 | $24,095 |
| 4 | CIP 45.1201 | 1,201 | 2.8% | 90 | $40,294 | $21,775 |
| 5 | Sociology and Anthropologymain feeder CIP 45.1301 | 496 | 1.2% | 49 | $28,378 | $24,924 |
| 6 | CIP 51.3204 | 415 | 1.0% | 31 | $99,851 | $21,475 |
| 7 | Applied/Public Sociologymain feeder CIP 45.1102 | 125 | 0.3% | 10 | $34,099 | $25,000 |
| 8 | Demography and Population Studiesmain feeder CIP 45.0501 | 71 | 0.2% | 12 | — | — |
| 9 | Rural Sociologymain feeder CIP 45.1103 | 46 | 0.1% | 4 | $34,099 | $25,000 |
| 10 | CIP 45.0103 | 18 | 0.0% | 2 | $35,590 | $24,095 |
| 11 | Sociology, Othermain feeder CIP 45.1199 | 8 | 0.0% | 3 | $34,099 | $25,000 |
Top 50 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 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 725 | Sociology, General | 93% | — | 9% |
| 2 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 716 | Criminology | 87% | — | 29% |
| 3 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 667 | Sociology, General | 83% | — | 33% |
| 4 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 633 | Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 5 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 478 | Criminology | 77% | — | 43% |
| 6 | University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD Public · 3 feeder programs | 469 | Criminology | 89% | — | 45% |
| 7 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 436 | Criminology | 57% | — | 95% |
| 8 | California State University - San Marcos San Marcos, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 417 | Sociology, General | 55% | — | 95% |
| 9 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 359 | Sociology, General | 57% | — | 93% |
| 10 | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 3 feeder programs | 344 | Criminology | 90% | — | 45% |
| 11 | The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 339 | Criminology | 73% | — | 77% |
| 12 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Public · 4 feeder programs | 333 | Criminology | 65% | — | 86% |
| 13 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 320 | Sociology, General | 93% | — | 11% |
| 14 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 319 | Sociology, General | 70% | — | 91% |
| 15 | Georgetown University Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 310 | Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods | 95% | $22,242 | 13% |
| 16 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 310 | Criminology | 91% | — | 24% |
| 17 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 303 | Sociology, General | 69% | — | 46% |
| 18 | Emory University Atlanta, GA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 300 | Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods | 91% | $20,586 | 11% |
| 19 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 295 | Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 20 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 4 feeder programs | 275 | Criminology | 87% | — | 38% |
| 21 | Brown University Providence, RI Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 261 | Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods | 96% | $14,644 | 5% |
| 22 | California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 259 | Sociology, General | 53% | — | 91% |
| 23 | Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs | 259 | Criminology | 61% | — | 90% |
| 24 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 258 | Criminology | 56% | — | 57% |
| 25 | Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA Public · 2 feeder programs | 255 | Criminology | 55% | — | 88% |
| 26 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 255 | Sociology, General | 86% | — | 42% |
| 27 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 248 | Criminology | 63% | — | 89% |
| 28 | University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY Public · 4 feeder programs | 247 | Sociology, General | 75% | — | 74% |
| 29 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 241 | Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 30 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 235 | Sociology, General | 56% | — | 94% |
| 31 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 234 | Sociology, General | 76% | — | 76% |
| 32 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 231 | Sociology, General | 55% | — | 94% |
| 33 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 229 | Sociology, General | 68% | — | 75% |
| 34 | Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 2 feeder programs | 227 | Criminology | 88% | — | 61% |
| 35 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 219 | Sociology, General | 84% | — | 57% |
| 36 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 218 | Sociology, General | 57% | — | 54% |
| 37 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs | 217 | Sociology, General | 0% | — | 67% |
| 38 | Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA Public · 3 feeder programs | 215 | Criminology | 46% | — | 90% |
| 39 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 209 | Criminology | 60% | — | 87% |
| 40 | Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA Public · 1 feeder programs | 208 | Sociology, General | 69% | — | 73% |
| 41 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 3 feeder programs | 208 | Criminology | 85% | — | 80% |
| 42 | The University of Tampa Tampa, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 206 | Criminology | 64% | $33,070 | 40% |
| 43 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 206 | Sociology, General | 89% | — | 27% |
| 44 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 200 | Sociology, General | 86% | — | 27% |
| 45 | California State University - Chico Chico, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 198 | Sociology, General | 63% | — | 93% |
| 46 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA Public · 2 feeder programs | 195 | Sociology, General | 86% | — | 55% |
| 47 | Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 192 | Sociology, General | 45% | — | — |
| 48 | Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN Public · 2 feeder programs | 191 | Sociology, General | 83% | — | 50% |
| 49 | The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 191 | Sociology, General | 53% | — | 87% |
| 50 | California State University - Dominguez Hills Carson, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 190 | Sociology, General | 43% | — | 93% |
What sociologists 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $125,770 | 590 | 2.24× | 180 | 12,910 |
| Florida | $46,950 | 160 | 1.13× | 23 | 1,604 |
| Illinois | $140,770 | — | — | 41 | 1,479 |
| North Carolina | $126,760 | 170 | 2.43× | 36 | 1,363 |
| Massachusetts | $106,530 | 250 | 4.71× | 43 | 1,125 |
| Ohio | $78,850 | 130 | 1.59× | 45 | 932 |
| Washington | $97,170 | 130 | 2.57× | 13 | 747 |
| Maryland | $100,660 | 50 | 1.34× | 18 | 744 |
| Michigan | $88,040 | 90 | 1.40× | 25 | 545 |
| Kentucky | $136,870 | 30 | 1.16× | 16 | 299 |
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
- Analyze and interpret data to increase the understanding of human social behavior.
- Prepare publications and reports containing research findings.
- Develop, implement, and evaluate methods of data collection, such as questionnaires or interviews.
- Collect data about the attitudes, values, and behaviors of people in groups, using observation, interviews, and review of documents.
- Teach sociology.
- Plan and conduct research to develop and test theories about societal issues such as crime, group relations, poverty, and aging.
- Present research findings at professional meetings.
- Explain sociological research to the general public.
Skills
- Active Listening4.1
- Speaking4.1
- Active Learning4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Writing4.0
- Learning Strategies3.9
- Monitoring3.5
Knowledge areas
- Sociology and Anthropology5.0
- English Language4.6
- Education and Training4.2
- Mathematics3.5
- History and Archeology3.4
- Computers and Electronics3.4
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.3
- Oral Expression4.3
- Written Comprehension4.1
- Inductive Reasoning4.1
- Written Expression4.1
- Deductive Reasoning4.0
Core activities
- Getting Information4.8
- Analyzing Data or Information4.8
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others4.7
- Processing Information4.6
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.5
- Working with Computers4.4
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Sociologist
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 13 majors mapped to Sociologists11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 45.0102Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods
- 45.0103Survey Research/Methodology
- 45.0401Criminology
- 45.0501Demography and Population Studies
- 45.0502Applied Demography(no graduates reported)
- 45.0599Demography, Other(no graduates reported)
- 45.1101Sociology, General
- 45.1102Applied/Public Sociology
- 45.1103Rural Sociology
- 45.1199Sociology, Other
- 45.1201Urban Studies/Affairs
- 45.1301Sociology and Anthropology
- 51.3204Medical/Health Humanities
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 Sociologist?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sociology, General, which awarded 27,731 degrees in 2024-25, 65.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Sociologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 11 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sociology, Criminology, Social Sciences, Urban Studies/Affairs, plus 3 more. Together they graduate about 42,513 people a year.
How much do sociologists earn?+
The median is $106,030 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $65,160 at the 10th percentile to $172,550 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 sociologists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1,156 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 11 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 sociologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Demographer, Sociologist, Social Scientist, Medical Sociologist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3041.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card