Program ranking · CIP 45.02 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Anthropology

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Anthropology (CIP 45.02) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$78,768
Highest anthropology earnings: 92
Colleges ranked: $31,186
#92 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $31,186 median earnings for Anthropology bachelor's (CIP 45.02) completers. Emory University leads at $78,768.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$78,768
#1 - Emory University: $31,186
#92 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 458
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Emory University

$78,768
Washington University in…

$71,018
Dartmouth College

$70,846
Fordham University

$66,562
George Washington Univer…

$65,172
University of California…

$64,359
Sonoma State University

$62,674
San Francisco State Univ…

$61,300
James Madison University

$60,841
CUNY Lehman College

$60,488
Loyola University Chicago

$59,024
University of California…

$56,982
Tulane University of Lou…

$56,847
University of California…

$56,836
University of North Caro…

$56,589

What this shows Anthropology medians often reflect teaching, research, and nonprofit pipelines - debt still matters when graduate school is common.

The full top 92

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	Emory University	GA	$78,768	$21,515	52
2	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$71,018	$15,000	91
3	Dartmouth College	NH	$70,846	$14,363	33
4	Fordham University	NY	$66,562	$22,562	40
5	George Washington University	DC	$65,172	$26,000	35
6	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$64,359	$12,572	104
7	Sonoma State University	CA	$62,674	$17,614	29
8	San Francisco State University	CA	$61,300	$16,500	37
9	James Madison University	VA	$60,841	$20,500	25
10	CUNY Lehman College	NY	$60,488	$10,663	85
11	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$59,024	-	30
12	University of California-San Diego	CA	$56,982	$13,500	61
13	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	$56,847	$19,500	47
14	University of California-Davis	CA	$56,836	$14,000	101
15	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$56,589	$12,500	82
16	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$56,238	$18,000	140
17	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	$55,399	$21,920	32
18	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	$55,217	$18,583	60
19	University of Connecticut	CT	$54,907	$17,500	26
20	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$54,905	$14,579	208
21	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$54,773	$16,166	38
22	California State University-Fullerton	CA	$54,092	$16,419	40
23	San Diego State University	CA	$53,991	$12,886	32
24	Binghamton University	NY	$53,460	$20,587	33
25	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$53,212	$11,715	51
26	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$53,042	$13,997	49
27	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$53,038	$20,070	26
28	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$52,315	$16,035	110
29	Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	$52,227	$20,554	46
30	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$51,907	$21,500	29
31	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	$51,811	$12,500	61
32	CUNY Hunter College	NY	$51,787	$8,772	35
33	Southern New Hampshire University	NH	$51,100	$22,164	96
34	University of California-Irvine	CA	$50,850	$16,000	51
35	Western Washington University	WA	$50,703	$21,727	63
36	Baylor University	TX	$50,699	$27,000	31
37	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	$50,640	$27,000	27
38	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$50,055	$20,500	73
39	Arizona State University Digital Immersion	AZ	$49,597	$20,000	108
40	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	$49,597	$20,000	76
41	University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	$49,351	$15,430	29
42	California State University-Fresno	CA	$49,187	$15,000	30
43	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	$48,607	$22,000	35
44	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$48,486	$19,809	52
45	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$48,367	$18,750	60
46	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	$48,010	$20,500	36
47	University of New Mexico-Main Campus	NM	$47,958	$19,600	29
48	University of Florida	FL	$47,348	$14,491	146
49	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$47,166	$11,229	76
50	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	PA	$46,328	$24,667	64
51	University of Oregon	OR	$45,920	$22,000	58
52	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	$45,890	$23,953	27
53	University of California-Riverside	CA	$45,821	$21,250	110
54	Western Carolina University	NC	$45,809	$20,732	48
55	University of North Texas	TX	$45,664	$20,500	28
56	Oregon State University	OR	$45,184	$25,000	46
57	Ball State University	IN	$44,371	$22,250	25
58	University of South Florida	FL	$44,283	$19,027	57
59	Central Washington University	WA	$44,089	$20,500	33
60	University of Arkansas	AR	$43,930	$22,333	27
61	University of Arizona	AZ	$43,885	$21,869	42
62	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$43,554	$15,875	30
63	University of Utah	UT	$43,492	$23,500	64
64	California State University-Northridge	CA	$43,192	$15,924	46
65	California State University-Chico	CA	$43,153	$18,263	42
66	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	$43,129	$21,500	62
67	University of Massachusetts-Boston	MA	$43,053	$22,750	27
68	Washington State University	WA	$42,888	$17,000	31
69	Grand Valley State University	MI	$42,796	$27,000	25
70	Florida State University	FL	$42,791	$19,250	32
71	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	$42,758	$18,000	26
72	University of Georgia	GA	$42,667	$20,003	36
73	SUNY College at Geneseo	NY	$42,216	-	34
74	University of Houston	TX	$42,146	$19,125	28
75	Appalachian State University	NC	$42,107	$21,531	45
76	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$41,767	$26,949	60
77	Portland State University	OR	$41,759	$17,937	34
78	Michigan State University	MI	$41,512	$27,750	27
79	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	$41,472	$18,625	37
80	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt	CA	$41,464	$17,986	28
81	East Carolina University	NC	$40,927	$26,375	28
82	Texas State University	TX	$40,706	$23,250	80
83	University of Nevada-Las Vegas	NV	$40,630	$17,086	62
84	The University of Montana	MT	$40,550	$25,000	36
85	Georgia State University	GA	$40,306	$21,125	25
86	Northern Arizona University	AZ	$39,597	$21,819	35
87	University of Central Florida	FL	$39,319	$18,787	87
88	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	NC	$39,112	$26,000	38
89	Utah State University	UT	$38,051	$17,500	26
90	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	$37,443	$9,500	32
91	University of North Carolina Wilmington	NC	$33,461	$22,987	27
92	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$31,186	-	28

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Anthropology (CIP 45.02) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Anthropology (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Anthropology (CIP 45.02) bachelor's programs - sociology (CIP 45.11) and archaeology-adjacent majors are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.