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2025 Best Urban & Regional Planning Schools in California

4 Colleges in California
311 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
$56,992 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 reviewed 4 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of urban & regional planning. Combined, these schools handed out 311 degrees in urban & regional planning to qualified students.

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
43 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
$63,583 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is one of the finest 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 fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 43 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the urban & regional planning program at University of Southern California get $6,591 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
65 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
4.6% Growth in Graduates

It is difficult 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 #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 65 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Those urban & regional planning students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles receive $12,365 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
51 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
9.8% 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 fairly large public university located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo. This university ranks 22nd out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 51 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, urban planning degree recipients typically earn around $47,832 in the first five years of their career.

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

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
54 Urban Planning Degrees Awarded
$45,960 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat California State Polytechnic University - Pomona if you wish to pursue a degree in urban & regional planning. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 60th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 54 urban & regional planning students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the urban planning program earn an average of $45,960 in the first couple years of their career.

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

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

Explore all the Best Urban & Regional Planning Colleges 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 311

View All Urban Planning Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Architectural Sciences & Technology 1,413
General Architecture 352
Real Estate Development 193
Landscape Architecture 151
Interior Architecture 81
Environmental Design 40
Architectural History 17
Architecture (Other) 6

View All Urban Planning Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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