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2024 Best Urban & Regional Planning Schools in California

5 Colleges in California
393 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
$57,366 Avg Early-Career Salary
Urban & Regional Planning isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #183 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.

College Factual looked at 5 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Urban & Regional Planning Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 393 degrees in urban & regional planning during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Urban & Regional Planning School

Best Urban & Regional Planning Schools in California The urban planning program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Urban & Regional Planning rankings. We derive our Best Overall Urban & Regional Planning School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Urban & Regional Planning Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Urban Planning
Master's Degrees in Urban Planning
Doctor's Degrees in Urban Planning

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Urban & Regional Planning Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.


 

Best Schools for Urban & Regional Planning in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the urban planning degree levels they offer.

Top California Schools in Urban Planning

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
61 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
$52,868 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in urban & regional planning. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 61 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the urban planning program make an average of $52,868 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in urban & regional planning from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
62 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
$59,669 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a degree in urban & regional planning. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 62 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Those urban & regional planning students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles earn $2,303 more than the standard urban planning grad.

More information about a degree in urban & regional planning from University of California - Los Angeles

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
46 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
30.4% Growth in Graduates

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in urban & regional planning. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo. This university ranks 17th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 46 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, urban planning degree recipients usually earn about $53,484 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in urban & regional planning from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
61 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
8.2% Growth in Graduates

It's hard to beat California State Polytechnic University - Pomona if you want to pursue a degree in urban & regional planning. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 65th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 61 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent data year. After graduating, urban planning degree recipients usually make an average of $50,497 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in urban & regional planning from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
36 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
33.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 15th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 36 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the urban planning program earn around $53,180 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in urban & regional planning from University of California - Irvine

Best Urban & Regional Planning Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Urban & Regional Planning Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 117
Oregon 266 49
Hawaii 164 12

View All Rankings >

Urban & Regional Planning is one of 8 different types of Architecture & Related Services programs to choose from.

Urban Planning Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Urban & Regional Planning, General 393

View All Urban Planning Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Architectural Sciences & Technology 1,209
General Architecture 335
Real Estate Development 217
Landscape Architecture 160
Interior Architecture 77
Environmental Design 49
Architectural History 29
Architecture (Other) 10

View All Urban Planning Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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