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2024 Best Geography & Cartography Schools in California

26 Colleges in California
1,251 Geography Degrees Awarded
$41,079 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in geography & cartography, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #110 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 26 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of geography & cartography. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,251 degrees in geography & cartography during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Geography & Cartography School

Best Geography & Cartography Schools in California Your choice of geography & cartography school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for geography & cartography schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Geography & Cartography Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Geography
Bachelor's Degrees in Geography
Master's Degrees in Geography
Doctor's Degrees in Geography

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Geography & Cartography Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Geography & Cartography 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 geography degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Geography

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
63 Geography Degrees Awarded
$60,767 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is a great decision for students interested in a degree in geography & cartography. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 63 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Geography & Cartography degree recipients from University of Southern California receive an earnings boost of approximately $19,688 over the average earnings of geography & cartography graduates.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
155 Geography Degrees Awarded
$36,662 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in geography & cartography. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 155 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. After graduating, geography degree recipients typically earn an average of $36,662 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from University of California - Los Angeles

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
119 Geography Degrees Awarded
3.4% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Santa Barbara is a good decision for students interested in a degree in geography & cartography. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were roughly 119 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the geography program make about $32,729 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from University of California - Santa Barbara

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
16th Most Popular In CA
7.7% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Davis is a good decision for students interested in a degree in geography & cartography. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were roughly 13 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from University of California - Davis

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
81 Geography Degrees Awarded
$45,979 Median Starting Salary

CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.

There were approximately 81 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year. Geography & Cartography degree recipients from California State University - Long Beach get an earnings boost of around $4,900 above the typical income of geography & cartography majors.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from California State University - Long Beach

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
43 Geography Degrees Awarded
$37,822 Median Starting Salary

SFSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.

There were about 43 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the geography program report average early career earnings of $37,822.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from San Francisco State University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In CA
44 Geography Degrees Awarded

SDSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were about 44 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from San Diego State University

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Geography Degrees Awarded
$40,926 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #249 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 37 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent data year. After graduation, geography degree recipients generally make around $40,926 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from California State University - Sacramento

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
45 Geography Degrees Awarded
6.7% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.

There were about 45 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the geography program report average early career income of $41,876.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from California State University - Northridge

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$34,075 Median Starting Salary
$11,916 Median Student Debt

Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Pomona. This university ranks 65th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 24 geography & cartography students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the geography program make an average of $34,075 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in geography & cartography from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Best Geography & Cartography Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Geography & Cartography Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 215
Oregon 266 123
Nevada 192 23
Hawaii 164 44
Alaska 119 4

View All Rankings >

Geography & Cartography is one of 13 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.

Geography Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Geography 786
Geographic Information Science 391
Other Geography 74

View All Geography Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Sociology 15,499
Economics 10,520
General Social Sciences 9,318
Political Science & Government 8,530
Anthropology 2,822
International Relations & National Security 1,387
Other Social Sciences 451
Urban Studies 361
Archeology 48
Demography & Population Studies 34

View All Geography Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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