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2025 Best Geography & Cartography Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

14 Colleges in California
506 Bachelor's Degrees
$34,513 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in geography & cartography, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #86 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 14 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Geography & Cartography Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 506 bachelor's degrees in geography & cartography during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Geography & Cartography School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Geography & Cartography Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of geography & cartography for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality geography program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for geography & cartography students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Geography & Cartography Schools

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Geography & Cartography Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Geography & Cartography in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in geography & cartography.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Geography

1
62 Annual Graduates
$36,776 Median Starting Salary
$19,243 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in geography & cartography. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Bachelor's recipients from the geography & cartography program at University of California - Los Angeles make $2,263 more than the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from University of California - Los Angeles

2

University of California - Santa Barbara is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in geography & cartography. UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.

Bachelor's recipients from the geography & cartography major at University of California - Santa Barbara get $2,885 more than the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from University of California - Santa Barbara

3
18 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in geography & cartography. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from University of Southern California

4

San Diego State University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in geography & cartography. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Geography & Cartography bachelor's degree recipients from San Diego State University earn a boost of around $4,135 over the average earnings of geography & cartography majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from San Diego State University

5

Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduation, geography bachelor's recipients usually make around $32,198 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from California State University - Long Beach

6

CSUN is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Northridge.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the geography program state that they receive average early career income of $27,002.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from California State University - Northridge

7

Sac State is a very large public university located in the large city of Sacramento.

Those geography & cartography students who get their bachelor's degree from California State University - Sacramento make $13,714 more than the average geography grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from California State University - Sacramento

8

Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the geography program report average early career earnings of $24,875.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from San Francisco State University

9
SSU crest
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

Located in the suburb of Rohnert Park, SSU is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Geography & Cartography bachelor's degree recipients from Sonoma State University receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,101 above the typical earnings of geography & cartography majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from Sonoma State University

10

Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduating, geography bachelor's recipients generally make about $33,727 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in geography & cartography from California State University - Los Angeles

Best Geography & Cartography Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 181
Oregon 185 95
Nevada 129 15
Hawaii 112 32
Alaska 75 4

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

Geography Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Geography 423
Geographic Information Science 83

Related Major Annual Graduates
Sociology 8,090
Economics 6,016
Political Science & Government 5,663
Anthropology 1,513
International Relations & National Security 736
General Social Sciences 525
Other Social Sciences 320
Urban Studies 217
Archeology 15

Notes and References

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