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Ridgecrest, California has 5 accredited schools offering biology programs, with tuition ranging from $1,438 to $20,730 per year for indexed programs. Ridgecrest has a population of about 28,138. Median household income is $88,107 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 31.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area, the top-earning biology-related role is Medical Scientist at a median $132,110 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer biology programs near Ridgecrest, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Ridgecrest city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Ridgecrest. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all California schools on the California biology page.
Ridgecrest is part of the Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area (BLS area code 12540). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to California statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Scientist | $132,110 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $130,932 |
| Biological Technician | $71,440 | CA statewide | $70,803 |
| Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist | $98,530 | CA statewide | $97,651 |
| Soil and Plant Scientist | $91,930 | CA statewide | $91,110 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 28,138 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $88,107 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 31.7% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 100.9 (above U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering biology programs near Ridgecrest. The closest is Barstow Community College in Barstow, CA (63.7 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Victor Valley College (83.3 miles). 2 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying biology-related roles near Ridgecrest are: Medical Scientist ($132,110), Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist ($98,530), Soil and Plant Scientist ($91,930). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with California statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Barstow, CA is 63.3 miles from Ridgecrest and has its own set of local biology programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Ridgecrest’s median household income of $88,107 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Ridgecrest while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and California public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Ridgecrest:
Data verified: July 30, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
