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Geography and Cartography Degree

95 schools compared · Average earnings $38,355/yr

Students study spatial relationships, physical landscapes, human-environment interactions, and mapping technologies including geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. Graduates typically pursue careers as GIS analysts, urban planners, environmental consultants, cartographers, and geospatial intelligence analysts for government and private companies. GIS skills are in high demand across industries from real estate to defense to public health.

What Geography and Cartography Graduates Do

Your career will likely start either in the field or behind a screen. As a surveying and mapping technician, you might spend your days outdoors collecting precise location data with GPS equipment. Alternatively, you could begin as a junior cartographer, using GIS software to clean datasets and build foundational map layers for urban planning or environmental firms.

With experience, you’ll shift from collecting data to analyzing and designing with it. You might become a senior cartographer creating complex data visualizations for logistics companies or a photogrammetrist interpreting satellite imagery to track climate change impacts. Eventually, many advance into management, leading entire mapping projects and teams. While technician and cartographer roles are growing, the traditional "Geographer" title is a smaller, more competitive niche facing some headwinds.

AI will have a moderate impact, automating significant chunks of routine work like digitizing features from aerial photos. The jobs aren’t disappearing, but your focus will shift from manual data entry to directing AI tools, validating their outputs, and making critical judgments about spatial patterns that software can’t.

Schools Offering

Avg Grad Earnings

$38,355/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

47/100

AI Automation Risk

High

53% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Geography and Cartography graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 115,700 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Managers, all other	$136,550 $100K$179K	106,700	+4.5%	47%
Geographers	$97,200 $76K$117K	100	-3.1%	50%
Geography teachers, postsecondary	$86,730 $66K$120K	300	+3.3%	48%
Cartographers and photogrammetrists	$78,380 $63K$100K	1,000	+6.4%	52%
Surveying and mapping technicians	$51,940 $44K$65K	7,600	+4.5%	50%

Managers, all other

$136,550

$100K $179K

106,700 openings/yr +4.5% growth 47% AI risk

Geographers

$97,200

$76K $117K

100 openings/yr -3.1% growth 50% AI risk

Geography teachers, postsecondary

$86,730

$66K $120K

300 openings/yr +3.3% growth 48% AI risk

Cartographers and photogrammetrists

$78,380

$63K $100K

1,000 openings/yr +6.4% growth 52% AI risk

Surveying and mapping technicians

$51,940

$44K $65K

7,600 openings/yr +4.5% growth 50% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Geography and Cartography

Top 20 of 95 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	65 61–66	$48,227/yr	20.8x
2	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	63 59–64	$54,204/yr	12.6x
3	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL	61 58–62	$43,856/yr	35.2x
4	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	61 59–62	$42,210/yr	21.7x
5	Appalachian State University Boone, NC	61 59–62	$41,648/yr	21.3x
6	California State University-Chico Chico, CA	61 59–62	$40,380/yr	21.4x
7	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	60 57–61	$49,568/yr	11.5x
8	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	60 58–61	$40,913/yr	15.7x
9	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	60 58–60	$40,051/yr	24.0x
10	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	59 57–60	$43,856/yr	21.0x
11	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA	59 58–60	$40,020/yr	25.6x
12	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	57 54–58	$49,267/yr	11.3x
13	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	57 55–58	$42,489/yr	12.4x
14	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	57 56–58	$39,259/yr	22.2x
15	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV	56 52–57	$53,079/yr	13.8x
16	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	56 53–57	$44,789/yr	11.1x
17	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL	56 53–57	$44,543/yr	11.1x
18	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	56 54–57	$42,997/yr	12.9x
19	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	55 53–56	$40,434/yr	13.9x
20	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	54 51–55	$45,094/yr	10.2x
21	Rowan University Glassboro, NJ	54 51–55	$44,380/yr	9.2x
22	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN	54 53–55	$40,553/yr	14.4x
23	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	54 55–55	$35,426/yr	21.0x
24	Park University Parkville, MO	53 48–54	$58,786/yr	8.0x
25	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	53 50–54	$45,030/yr	8.7x
26	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	53 50–54	$44,909/yr	10.9x
27	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI	53 52–54	$40,048/yr	14.1x
28	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	53 53–54	$36,878/yr	13.9x
29	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	52 49–53	$46,929/yr	9.6x
30	University of North Texas Denton, TX	52 51–53	$39,960/yr	12.1x
31	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI	52 52–53	$37,521/yr	16.5x
32	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	51 49–51	$40,546/yr	11.0x
33	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	51 51–51	$36,776/yr	11.4x
34	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	50 50–51	$39,328/yr	9.6x
35	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO	50 49–50	$39,104/yr	12.4x
36	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	49 46–50	$45,566/yr	9.4x
37	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO	49 46–50	$44,861/yr	9.4x
38	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	49 46–50	$44,553/yr	8.7x
39	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	49 49–49	$37,398/yr	9.8x
40	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	49 52–50	$27,002/yr	25.7x
41	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	48 46–49	$42,454/yr	10.8x
42	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	48 49–49	$35,608/yr	20.0x
43	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ	47 44–48	$49,267/yr	—
44	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	47 45–48	$42,829/yr	8.3x
45	University of North Alabama Florence, AL	47 45–48	$41,076/yr	9.6x
46	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	47 46–48	$40,614/yr	11.4x
47	University of Louisville Louisville, KY	47 47–48	$37,844/yr	10.2x
48	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	47 48–48	$35,936/yr	13.5x
49	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	47 49–47	$32,198/yr	18.4x
50	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	46 45–47	$41,052/yr	10.0x
51	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	46 46–47	$38,019/yr	8.2x
52	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI	46 46–46	$37,537/yr	11.8x
53	University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO	46 47–47	$36,426/yr	12.4x
54	Ohio University-Eastern Campus Saint Clairsville, OH	46 48–46	$33,199/yr	18.9x
55	Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus Chillicothe, OH	46 48–46	$33,199/yr	18.9x
56	Ohio University-Southern Campus Ironton, OH	46 48–46	$33,199/yr	18.9x
57	Ohio University-Lancaster Campus Lancaster, OH	46 48–46	$33,199/yr	18.9x
58	Ohio University-Zanesville Campus Zanesville, OH	46 48–46	$33,199/yr	18.9x
59	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	45 41–46	$56,756/yr	1.2x
60	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	45 44–45	$38,648/yr	10.7x
61	George Washington University Washington, DC	44 40–45	$52,883/yr	1.0x
62	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ	44 42–45	$42,638/yr	6.2x
63	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	44 42–45	$42,214/yr	5.6x
64	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY	44 44–45	$38,784/yr	10.0x
65	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	44 46–45	$34,435/yr	12.5x
66	Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI	43 41–44	$41,103/yr	5.6x
67	Ball State University Muncie, IN	43 44–43	$34,274/yr	11.2x
68	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	41 40–42	$38,726/yr	5.9x
69	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	41 44–42	$29,931/yr	13.6x
70	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	41 43–41	$26,040/yr	17.5x
71	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO	40 40–40	$36,996/yr	6.7x
72	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI	40 41–41	$35,838/yr	7.9x
73	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	40 42–41	$33,727/yr	11.4x
74	Portland State University Portland, OR	39 40–40	$35,330/yr	9.2x
75	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA	39 41–39	$27,355/yr	14.8x
76	University of Georgia Athens, GA	39 41–40	$26,801/yr	12.0x
77	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	39 40–39	$24,875/yr	16.0x
78	Salem State University Salem, MA	38 40–39	$32,504/yr	9.6x
79	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC	38 41–39	$25,975/yr	15.5x
80	Augustana College Rock Island, IL	37 36–38	$40,683/yr	1.0x
81	SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, NY	37 39–38	$33,758/yr	8.4x
82	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH	37 38–37	$33,199/yr	8.0x
83	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	37 39–38	$32,078/yr	7.4x
84	Salisbury University Salisbury, MD	37 39–38	$25,255/yr	11.8x
85	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	37 38–38	$23,553/yr	13.1x
86	Illinois State University Normal, IL	36 37–37	$34,952/yr	4.5x
87	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM	36 38–37	$32,096/yr	8.9x
88	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI	36 39–37	$32,052/yr	10.2x
89	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH	35 37–35	$31,414/yr	8.4x
90	University of Hawaii at Hilo Hilo, HI	34 37–35	$30,293/yr	8.7x
91	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	33 35–34	$33,424/yr	3.4x
92	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY	33 36–34	$29,390/yr	9.5x
93	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	27 29–28	$26,701/yr	2.9x
94	Clark University Worcester, MA	26 28–26	$29,713/yr	0.3x
95	Macalester College Saint Paul, MN	23 25–23	$30,053/yr	1.2x

Highest Earning Geography and Cartography Programs

Schools where Geography and Cartography graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
Park University	$58,786/yr	53
Dartmouth College	$56,756/yr	45
Texas A & M University-College Station	$54,204/yr	63
University of Nevada-Reno	$53,079/yr	56
George Washington University	$52,883/yr	44
George Mason University	$49,568/yr	60
Arizona State University Campus Immersion	$49,267/yr	57
Arizona State University Digital Immersion	$49,267/yr	47
California State University-Sacramento	$48,227/yr	65
University of South Carolina-Columbia	$46,929/yr	52

Best ROI for Geography and Cartography

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Geography and Cartography.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
University of Florida-Online	35.2x	$43,856/yr	61
California State University-Northridge	25.7x	$27,002/yr	49
Kennesaw State University	25.6x	$40,020/yr	59
Brigham Young University	24.0x	$40,051/yr	60
University of South Florida	22.2x	$39,259/yr	57
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	21.7x	$42,210/yr	61
California State University-Chico	21.4x	$40,380/yr	61
Appalachian State University	21.3x	$41,648/yr	61
University of Florida	21.0x	$43,856/yr	59
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	21.0x	$35,426/yr	54

Want to compare two Geography and Cartography programs side by side? Use the comparison tool →

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Consider the Trade Route

Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Geography and Cartography offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Geography and Cartography graduates earn?

Across 95 schools, Geography and Cartography graduates earn an average of $38,355 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $23,553 to $58,786 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Geography and Cartography?

Geography and Cartography is rated "High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 53% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means most career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Geography and Cartography program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), California State University-Sacramento ranks #1 for Geography and Cartography with a score of 65/100 and graduate earnings of $48,227/yr.

What's the outlook for a Geography and Cartography degree?

On average, Geography and Cartography graduates earn 12.2x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a strong return on investment.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →