Net price by family income
What college costs in California, by family income
Published tuition is not what most families pay. Across the 210 California colleges reporting the complete federal net-price series, families earning under $30,000 paid a median of $12,650 a year after grants, and families earning over $110,000 paid $25,683. These are averages for a prior cohort of federal aid recipients, not a quote for your family.
Median net price at California colleges, by family income
| Family income | Median net price per year |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | $12,650 |
| $30,000 to $48,000 | $12,300 |
| $48,000 to $75,000 | $15,075 |
| $75,000 to $110,000 | $18,768 |
| $110,000 or more | $25,683 |
Median across 210 colleges, unweighted by enrolment, so a small college counts the same as a large one. Net price is the full cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid, and is not comparable to a tuition figure.
California colleges, for families earning $48,000 to $75,000
Lowest net price first for this one income band, showing 50 of 210 colleges. A different income band produces a different order, which is the whole point: use the tool below to see any band. This is a sort of one reported figure, not a ranking.
| College | Under $30k | $48k to $75k | $110k or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxnard CollegeOxnard, CA · Public two-year | $1,314 | $44 | $8,880 |
| Moorpark CollegeMoorpark, CA · Public two-year | $226 | $2,243 | $4,841 |
| Ventura CollegeVentura, CA · Public two-year | $1,844 | $2,939 | $8,896 |
| College of the CanyonsSanta Clarita, CA · Public two-year | $1,104 | $3,334 | $7,741 |
| Fresno City CollegeFresno, CA · Public two-year | $987 | $3,594 | $11,076 |
| Moreno Valley CollegeMoreno Valley, CA · Public two-year | $1,293 | $3,634 | $7,136 |
| College of San MateoSan Mateo, CA · Public two-year | $127 | $3,951 | $7,818 |
| Gavilan CollegeGilroy, CA · Public two-year | $923 | $3,999 | $7,251 |
| Irvine Valley CollegeIrvine, CA · Public two-year | $638 | $4,518 | $8,170 |
| California State University-Dominguez HillsCarson, CA · Public four-year | $2,624 | $4,942 | $12,878 |
| Mt San Antonio CollegeWalnut, CA · Public two-year | $2,142 | $5,012 | $9,951 |
| Pomona CollegeClaremont, CA · Private four-year | $5,638 | $5,099 | $51,240 |
| Victor Valley CollegeVictorville, CA · Public two-year | $2,135 | $5,109 | $3,511 |
| Hartnell CollegeSalinas, CA · Public two-year | $1,360 | $5,267 | $10,059 |
| California State University-Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA · Public four-year | $2,855 | $5,373 | $14,599 |
| Saddleback CollegeMission Viejo, CA · Public two-year | $2,084 | $5,394 | $8,394 |
| California State University-FullertonFullerton, CA · Public four-year | $2,675 | $5,438 | $14,831 |
| Grossmont CollegeEl Cajon, CA · Public two-year | $1,681 | $5,510 | $8,775 |
| Pasadena City CollegePasadena, CA · Public two-year | $2,205 | $5,613 | $10,004 |
| Santa Monica CollegeSanta Monica, CA · Public four-year | $2,796 | $5,695 | $8,622 |
| Golden West CollegeHuntington Beach, CA · Public two-year | $1,748 | $5,759 | $10,837 |
| Santiago Canyon CollegeOrange, CA · Public two-year | $1,957 | $5,798 | $11,304 |
| Norco CollegeNorco, CA · Public two-year | $1,788 | $5,838 | $10,501 |
| Riverside City CollegeRiverside, CA · Public two-year | $2,741 | $5,851 | $9,848 |
| Feather River Community College DistrictQuincy, CA · Public four-year | $5,638 | $5,887 | $14,891 |
| Solano Community CollegeFairfield, CA · Public four-year | $2,594 | $5,909 | $11,040 |
| Las Positas CollegeLivermore, CA · Public two-year | $2,914 | $5,945 | $11,071 |
| Shasta CollegeRedding, CA · Public four-year | $2,767 | $6,000 | $10,869 |
| Merced CollegeMerced, CA · Public two-year | $3,274 | $6,053 | $10,577 |
| Santa Ana CollegeSanta Ana, CA · Public four-year | $3,151 | $6,107 | $9,191 |
| California State University-BakersfieldBakersfield, CA · Public four-year | $3,070 | $6,183 | $16,810 |
| California State University-StanislausTurlock, CA · Public four-year | $3,218 | $6,347 | $16,815 |
| California State University-San BernardinoSan Bernardino, CA · Public four-year | $3,298 | $6,381 | $15,250 |
| Citrus CollegeGlendora, CA · Public two-year | $2,561 | $6,611 | $10,545 |
| Cosumnes River CollegeSacramento, CA · Public two-year | $3,368 | $6,622 | $8,646 |
| Sierra CollegeRocklin, CA · Public two-year | $3,048 | $6,629 | $9,007 |
| Folsom Lake CollegeFolsom, CA · Public two-year | $2,650 | $6,635 | $7,254 |
| Long Beach City CollegeLong Beach, CA · Public two-year | $4,237 | $6,680 | $7,128 |
| American River CollegeSacramento, CA · Public two-year | $3,744 | $6,788 | $10,022 |
| De Anza CollegeCupertino, CA · Public two-year | $3,046 | $6,804 | $10,644 |
| California Institute of TechnologyPasadena, CA · Private four-year | $1,667 | $7,003 | $56,275 |
| Chaffey CollegeRancho Cucamonga, CA · Public two-year | $5,001 | $7,016 | $8,819 |
| Santa Rosa Junior CollegeSanta Rosa, CA · Public two-year | $4,623 | $7,032 | $7,269 |
| Sacramento City CollegeSacramento, CA · Public two-year | $2,785 | $7,044 | $10,033 |
| Bakersfield CollegeBakersfield, CA · Public four-year | $4,126 | $7,190 | $12,508 |
| Butte CollegeOroville, CA · Public two-year | $3,367 | $7,220 | $12,770 |
| California State University-FresnoFresno, CA · Public four-year | $4,447 | $7,220 | $16,580 |
| Cypress CollegeCypress, CA · Public four-year | $4,205 | $7,220 | $10,011 |
| Chabot CollegeHayward, CA · Public two-year | $3,300 | $7,225 | $10,901 |
| Orange Coast CollegeCosta Mesa, CA · Public two-year | $3,105 | $7,289 | $10,872 |
What the California net-price data shows
- Across the 210 California colleges reporting the complete series, the median net price rises from $12,650 for families under $30,000 to $25,683 for families over $110,000. Net price is what students who received federal aid actually paid after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
- That is a $13,033 spread across the income range, or 2.03x. Aid is why: the same college charges a lower-income family less because more of its price is covered by grants. It does NOT mean every college in California follows this pattern, only that the median does.
- For families under $30,000, the median net price is $5,001 at the public colleges here and $24,707 at the private ones. Compare net price rather than sticker price before ruling either sector out.
How these figures were built
Every figure comes from the U.S. Department of Education net-price-by-income series (College Scorecard / IPEDS), as carried in CampusPin’s committed snapshot of 2026-08-12. Nothing is recomputed, modelled, or imputed.
Net price is the average paid by students who received federal aid, in each family-income band, after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted from the full cost of attendance. It is not tuition and must never be compared with a tuition figure. It is an average for a prior entering cohort, so it describes the college, not your family.
A college is published only if it reports the complete five-band series, so no row here has a hole in it. Colleges whose five-band series is byte-identical to another institution’s are excluded entirely rather than deduplicated: that pattern means one record’s series was attached to several schools upstream, and a page that prints a figure beside a college name must not guess which one owns it.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does college actually cost in California?
- It depends on family income, which is the point of this page. Across the 210 California colleges reporting the full federal series, the median net price is $12,650 a year for families earning under $30,000 and $25,683 for families earning over $110,000. Net price counts the full cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid, so it is a larger, more realistic number than tuition alone.
- Is net price the same as tuition?
- No, and they should never be compared directly. Published tuition covers instruction only. Net price is the total cost of attendance, including housing, food, books and fees, minus grants and scholarships that do not have to be repaid. A college can have higher tuition and a lower net price than another.
- Will my family pay these amounts?
- Almost certainly not exactly. Each figure is an average across federal aid recipients in that income band at that college, for a prior entering cohort. Your own price depends on your specific circumstances, the aid the college offers you, and the year you enrol. Use these to compare California colleges against each other, then run each college's own Net Price Calculator and confirm with its financial aid office.
- Why are some California colleges missing?
- A college appears here only if it reports the COMPLETE five-band series, so every income band is answerable for every college listed rather than leaving holes in the table. Colleges reporting a partial series are excluded, as are colleges whose series is byte-identical to another institution's, because that pattern means one record was attached to several schools upstream and the figure cannot be attributed to one of them.
Limitations of this data
- Net price is the average paid by FEDERAL AID RECIPIENTS in each income band after grant and scholarship aid; it is not a quote for any individual family.
- Bands are the federal series: $0-30k, $30-48k, $48-75k, $75-110k, $110k+ of family income.
- Reflects institutions in CampusPin's dataset, NOT the full federal IPEDS universe.
- CampusPin records control as public/private only; private nonprofit vs. for-profit is not split, and much of the private two-year group is for-profit career colleges.
- Degree level is APPROXIMATED by CampusPin institution type (university ~ four-year, community college ~ two-year); it is not a recorded field.
- Coverage is 65% overall and differs sharply by sector (see bySector.coveragePercent); non-response is not random, and some non-reporters are graduate-only institutions with no undergraduate series to report.
- Medians are across institutions and unweighted by enrollment, so a small college counts the same as a large one.
- Figures reflect a prior entering cohort, not the current academic year; the source does not expose a single cohort year through this API.
- Cells with fewer than 25 institutions would be suppressed; no cell in this release fell below that floor.
More West states
Keep going on CampusPin
Narrow this list with the full filter set, or put any two colleges side by side.
Federal reporting is updated annually. Report a data issue.
Data sources & methodology
Net price by family income for California colleges is compiled from federal collections reported by each institution.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Net price by income band, post-graduation earnings, and federal aid context.
Institutional websites
Each school's official admissions, registrar, and financial-aid pages are the authoritative source for current details.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. What College Costs in California, by Family Income. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/college-costs-by-income/california