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50Colleges in California
10,520Economics Degrees Awarded
$48,538Avg Early-Career Salary
Economics is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #19 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual looked at 50 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Economics Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 10,520 degrees in economics during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
- Best Overall Economics Schools List
Choosing a Great Economics School
The economics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Economics rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for economics schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
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 Economics Degree Level
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 Economics 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 Economics 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 economics degree levels they offer.
10 Top California Schools in Economics
1
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
116Economics Degrees Awarded
0.9%Growth in GraduatesStanford University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in economics. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were roughly 116.00000000000001 economics students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the economics program at Stanford University get $11,937 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in economics from Stanford University2
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
808Economics Degrees Awarded
3.2%Growth in GraduatesUniversity of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in economics. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 808 economics students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the economics major at University of California - Berkeley get $22,792 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a degree in economics from University of California - Berkeley3
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA
Bachelor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
116Economics Degrees Awarded
$95,566Median Starting SalaryClaremont McKenna College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in economics. Claremont McKenna is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Claremont. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Claremont McKenna is a great college overall.
There were about 116 economics students who graduated with this degree at Claremont McKenna in the most recent data year. Those economics students who get their degree from Claremont McKenna College make $47,028 more than the standard economics student.
More information about a degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College4
University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
884Economics Degrees Awarded
$52,741Median Starting SalaryUniversity of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in economics. UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were about 884 economics students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Economics degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,203 over the average income of economics majors.
More information about a degree in economics from University of California - Los Angeles5
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
357Economics Degrees Awarded
25.2%Growth in GraduatesLocated in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 357 economics students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Economics degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of around $6,299 above the typical income of economics graduates.
More information about a degree in economics from University of Southern California6
University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
723Economics Degrees Awarded
$59,465Median Starting SalaryUCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.
There were approximately 723 economics students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Economics degree recipients from University of California - Santa Barbara get an earnings boost of approximately $10,927 over the typical income of economics majors.
More information about a degree in economics from University of California - Santa Barbara7 University of California - San Diego Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 480Economics Degrees Awarded Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall. There were roughly 479.99999999999994 economics students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, economics degree recipients generally make around $42,370 at the beginning of their careers. 8 University of California - Davis Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 661Economics Degrees Awarded UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall. There were roughly 661 economics students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the economics program state that they receive average early career wages of $44,249. 9 University of California - Irvine Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 490Economics Degrees Awarded Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall. There were about 490 economics students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the economics program make around $40,188 in their early career salary. 10 Pomona College Bachelor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 46Economics Degrees Awarded Pomona is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Claremont. A Best Colleges rank of #57 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Pomona is a great college overall. There were about 46 economics students who graduated with this degree at Pomona in the most recent year we have data available. Those economics students who get their degree from Pomona College receive $18,500 more than the typical economics student.
La Jolla, CA
Davis, CA
Irvine, CA
Claremont, CA
Best Economics Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Economics Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.State Colleges Degrees Awarded Washington 300 713 Oregon 266 590 Nevada 192 147 Hawaii 164 92 Alaska 119 17
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One of 13 majors within the Social Sciences area of study, Economics has other similar majors worth exploring.
Economics Focus Areas
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Economics | 5,405 |
| 4,914 | |
| 118 | |
| Applied Economics | 34 |
| Other Economics | 27 |
| International Economics | 22 |
View All Economics Concentrations >
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Sociology | 15,499 |
| General Social Sciences | 9,318 |
| 8,530 | |
| Anthropology | 2,822 |
| 1,387 | |
| 1,251 | |
| Other Social Sciences | 451 |
| Urban Studies | 361 |
| Archeology | 48 |
| 34 |
View All Economics Related Majors >
Notes and References
- The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to pixabay.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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