You don’t necessarily need to get a four-year college degree to end up with a good job and a good salary. Here are the top 35 two-year degree colleges in the country, ranked by midcareer salary of their graduates. The rankings come from the 2016-2017 PayScale College Salary Report released by Payscale.com.
No. 35: Seattle Central Community College — Seattle, Washington
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,500
Early-career median pay: $48,000
Website: http://www.seattlecentral.edu/
No. 34: Texas State Technical College, Waco Campus — Waco, Texas
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,600
Early-career median pay: $41,500
Website: http://www.waco.tstc.edu/
No. 33: Harper College — Palatine, Illinois
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,600
Early-career median pay: $39,400
Website: http://goforward.harpercollege.edu/
No. 32: Eastern Maine Community College — Bangor, Maine
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,700
Early-career median pay: $31,100
Website: http://www.emcc.edu/
No. 31: Norwalk Community College — Norwalk, Connecticut
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,700
Early-career median pay: $40,300
Website: http://norwalk.edu/
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No. 30: Pierce College Fort Steilacoom — Lakewood, Washington
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,900
Early-career median pay: $35,800
Website: http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/
No. 29: El Camino College — Torrance, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $62,900
Early-career median pay: $35,700
Website: http://www.elcamino.edu/
No. 28: Diablo Valley College — Pleasant Hill, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,100
Early-career median pay: $36,600
Website: http://www.dvc.edu/
No. 27: Alvin Community College — Alvin, Texas
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,200
Early-career median pay: $44,600
Website: http://www.alvincollege.edu/
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No. 26: Bellevue College — Bellevue, Washington
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,400
Early-career median pay: $43,100
Website: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/
No. 25: Triton College — River Grove, Illinois
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,400
Early-career median pay: $37,500
Website: http://www.triton.edu/
No. 24: Westchester Community College (SUNY) — Valhalla, New York
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,700
Early-career median pay: $41,400
Website: http://www.sunywcc.edu/
No. 23: Excelsior College — Albany, New York
School type: Private not-for-profit
Midcareer median pay: $63,800
Early-career median pay: $55,700
Website: http://www.excelsior.edu/
No. 22: Los Angeles Trade Technical College — Los Angeles, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,800
Early-career median pay: $31,500
Website: http://www.lattc.edu/
No. 21: Wharton County Junior College — Wharton, Texas
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,900
Early-career median pay: $38,600
Website: http://www.wcjc.edu/
No. 20: Central Ohio Technical College — Newark, Ohio
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,900
Early-career median pay: $33,800
Website: http://www.cotc.edu/
No. 19: Mt. San Antonio College — Walnut, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $63,900
Early-career median pay: $35,800
Website: http://www.mtsac.edu/
No. 18: County College of Morris — Randolph, New Jersey
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $64,100
Early-career median pay: $38,500
Website: http://www.ccm.edu/
No. 17: West Valley College — Saratoga, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $64,400
Early-career median pay: $39,900
Website: http://westvalley.edu/
No. 16: San Bernardino Valley College — San Bernardino, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $64,600
Early-career median pay: $41,100
Website: http://www.valleycollege.edu/
No. 15: College of the Canyons — Santa Clarita, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $64,600
Early-career median pay: $38,100
Website: https://www.canyons.edu/
No. 14: Northern Virginia Community College — Springfield, Virginia
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $64,900
Early-career median pay: $39,400
Website: http://www.nvcc.edu/
No. 13: Kingsborough Community College (CUNY) — Brooklyn, New York
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $65,000
Early-career median pay: $36,400
Website: http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/
No. 12: Orange Coast College — Costa Mesa, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $65,200
Early-career median pay: $38,700
Website: http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/
No. 11: Bergen Community College — Paramus, New Jersey
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $65,600
Early-career median pay: $38,400
Website: http://bergen.edu/
No. 10: City College of San Francisco — San Francisco, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $65,700
Early-career median pay: $41,500
Website: https://www.ccsf.edu/
No. 9: El Centro College — Dallas, Texas
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $66,200
Early-career median pay: $44,300
Website: http://elcentrocollege.edu/
No. 8: San Jacinto College — Pasadena, Texas
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $66,300
Early-career median pay: $41,000
Website: http://www.sanjac.edu/
No. 7: De Anza College — Cupertino, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $66,600
Early-career median pay: $46,800
Website: http://deanza.edu/
No. 6: Moorpark College — Moorpark, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $66,900
Early-career median pay: $36,600
Website: http://www.moorparkcollege.edu/
No. 5: Gloucester County College — Sewell, New Jersey
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $67,100
Early-career median pay: $30,400
Website: https://www.rcgc.edu/
No. 4: Queensborough Community College (CUNY) — Bayside, New York
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $68,400
Early-career median pay: $37,400
Website: http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/
No. 3: New York City College of Technology (CUNY) — Brooklyn, New York
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $70,100
Early-career median pay: $40,000
Website: http://www2.cuny.edu/about/colleges-schools/citytech/
No. 2: Bakersfield College — Bakersfield, California
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $71,500
Early-career median pay: $39,200
Website: https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/
No. 1: Fashion Institute of Technology — New York, New York
School type: Public
Midcareer median pay: $74,600
Early-career median pay: $39,200
Website: http://www.fitnyc.edu/
And if you want to know more about community college options, take a look at this: “The Top 10 Community Colleges in the Country.”
What would your dream job — and college degree — be if money were no object? Share with us in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
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