Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › California
Culinary & pastry schools in California
California has 55 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in California, expect to start around $37,380–$46,320 and reach a median of $64,500 with experience; the top quarter earn $81,040 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, California). Graduates of these California programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $25,092 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in California
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 31,670 employed in California. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in California, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: AptosBakersfieldBaldwin ParkChula VistaClovisCosta MesaCypressEl CajonEmeryvilleFresnoLa PuenteLancasterLemooreLong BeachLos AngelesMarysvilleMercedMission ViejoMontereyNapaNorwalkOaklandOceansideOxnardPalm DesertPasadenaPleasant HillRancho CucamongaReddingRiversideSacramentoSan BernardinoSan DiegoSan FranciscoSan JoseSan Luis ObispoSan PabloSanta AnaSanta BarbaraSanta Clara
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institute of Culinary Education | Pasadena | for-profit career college | 286 | $31,113 | $6,439 | 77% | not reported |
| CET-San Jose | San Jose | non-profit career school | 10 | $25,092 | not reported | 81% | $24,566 |
| Baldwin Park Adult & Community Education | Baldwin Park | Public community college | 16 | $21,466 | not reported | 71% | $11,859 |
| Los Angeles Trade Technical College | Los Angeles | Public technical college | 138 | $19,339 | not reported | 35% | not reported |
| Institute of Technology | Clovis | for-profit career college | 39 | $18,309 | $9,500 | 74% | $29,228 |
| University of Antelope Valley | Lancaster | for-profit university | 8 | $17,518 | $9,218 | not reported | not reported |
| Los Angeles Mission College | Sylmar | Public community college | 103 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Cabrillo College | Aptos | Public community college | 91 | not reported | not reported | 38% | not reported |
| Riverside City College | Riverside | Public community college | 89 | not reported | not reported | 37% | not reported |
| Grossmont College | El Cajon | Public community college | 82 | not reported | not reported | 37% | not reported |
| Cypress College | Cypress | Public college | 80 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Orange Coast College | Costa Mesa | Public community college | 80 | not reported | not reported | 48% | not reported |
| Cuesta College | San Luis Obispo | Public community college | 62 | not reported | not reported | 48% | not reported |
| Cerritos College | Norwalk | Public community college | 59 | not reported | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| College of the Canyons | Santa Clarita | Public community college | 48 | not reported | not reported | 45% | not reported |
| Chaffey College | Rancho Cucamonga | Public community college | 39 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| American River College | Sacramento | Public community college | 38 | not reported | not reported | 37% | not reported |
| Southwestern College | Chula Vista | Public community college | 35 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| Saddleback College | Mission Viejo | Public community college | 33 | not reported | not reported | 48% | not reported |
| City College of San Francisco | San Francisco | Public community college | 30 | not reported | not reported | 40% | not reported |
| Columbia College | Sonora | Public community college | 29 | not reported | not reported | 27% | not reported |
| Santa Rosa Junior College | Santa Rosa | Public community college | 29 | not reported | not reported | 37% | not reported |
| Laney College | Oakland | Public community college | 28 | not reported | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| Santa Ana College | Santa Ana | Public college | 28 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| College of the Sequoias | Visalia | Public community college | 25 | not reported | not reported | 39% | not reported |
| Mt San Antonio College | Walnut | Public community college | 25 | not reported | not reported | 45% | not reported |
| Long Beach City College | Long Beach | Public community college | 24 | not reported | not reported | 30% | not reported |
| National Holistic Institute | Emeryville | for-profit career college | 23 | not reported | not reported | 80% | $38,841 |
| Bakersfield College | Bakersfield | Public college | 19 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Diablo Valley College | Pleasant Hill | Public community college | 18 | not reported | not reported | 49% | not reported |
| Oxnard College | Oxnard | Public community college | 18 | not reported | not reported | 34% | not reported |
| San Bernardino Valley College | San Bernardino | Public community college | 18 | not reported | not reported | 28% | not reported |
| Mission College | Santa Clara | Public community college | 17 | not reported | not reported | 39% | not reported |
| Woodland Community College | Woodland | Public community college | 17 | not reported | not reported | 44% | not reported |
| Allan Hancock College | Santa Maria | Public community college | 16 | not reported | not reported | 26% | not reported |
| San Joaquin Delta College | Stockton | Public community college | 15 | not reported | not reported | 35% | not reported |
| Lemoore College | Lemoore | Public community college | 14 | not reported | not reported | 49% | not reported |
| Los Angeles Harbor College | Wilmington | Public community college | 14 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| Monterey Peninsula College | Monterey | Public community college | 14 | not reported | not reported | 40% | not reported |
| Yuba College | Marysville | Public community college | 13 | not reported | not reported | 40% | not reported |
| Hacienda La Puente Adult Education | La Puente | Public community college | 12 | not reported | not reported | 77% | $9,138 |
| Victor Valley College | Victorville | Public community college | 12 | not reported | not reported | 62% | not reported |
| Vista Adult School | Vista | Public community college | 11 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| College of the Desert | Palm Desert | Public community college | 10 | not reported | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| Santa Barbara City College | Santa Barbara | Public community college | 10 | not reported | not reported | 34% | not reported |
| Cosumnes River College | Sacramento | Public community college | 7 | not reported | not reported | 40% | not reported |
| Fresno City College | Fresno | Public community college | 6 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Contra Costa College | San Pablo | Public community college | 5 | not reported | not reported | 28% | not reported |
| Merced College | Merced | Public community college | 5 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| MiraCosta College | Oceanside | Public college | 5 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pasadena City College | Pasadena | Public community college | 5 | not reported | not reported | 48% | not reported |
| Shasta College | Redding | Public college | 5 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| San Diego Mesa College | San Diego | Public college | 4 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Lake Tahoe Community College | South Lake Tahoe | Public community college | 2 | not reported | not reported | 45% | not reported |
| Napa Valley College | Napa | Public community college | 2 | not reported | not reported | 43% | not reported |
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
Ranked by median earnings of this program's graduates one year after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026); campuses without a reported figure follow, by credentials awarded. "Program debt" is the median federal loan debt for graduates of this program at this campus. Completion is the campus-wide 150%-of-time rate. "Not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy.