Best City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning Degrees in the US by ROI

Top colleges ranked by estimated 20-year net return on investment across all active states. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Programs Analyzed

Colleges with salary data

Average 20-Yr Net ROI

+$338,600

Across all programs

Average Annual Cost

$39,940

Cost of attendance

#	College	State	20-Yr Net ROI	Median Salary	Annual Cost	Avg Debt
1	San Jose State University Grad rate: 66.2%	CA	+$812,310	$85,185	$25,695	N/A	Full ROI →
2	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Grad rate: 85.3%	CA	+$599,164	$74,950	$29,918	N/A	Full ROI →
3	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Grad rate: 58.5%	WA	+$594,104	$74,158	$24,528	N/A	Full ROI →
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Grad rate: 95.5%	MA	+$592,240	$79,597	$79,850	N/A	Full ROI →
5	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Grad rate: 84.0%	WA	+$582,596	$74,158	$30,282	N/A	Full ROI →
6	University of California-Berkeley Grad rate: 93.5%	CA	+$560,104	$74,276	$42,708	N/A	Full ROI →
7	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Grad rate: 86.3%	VA	+$547,200	$72,564	$32,040	N/A	Full ROI →
8	University of California-Irvine Grad rate: 86.3%	CA	+$501,658	$70,695	$36,121	N/A	Full ROI →
9	University of Southern California Grad rate: 92.2%	CA	+$500,924	$75,514	$84,678	N/A	Full ROI →
10	University of California-Los Angeles Grad rate: 92.6%	CA	+$493,594	$70,344	$36,643	N/A	Full ROI →
11	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Grad rate: 84.8%	IL	+$444,712	$67,449	$32,134	N/A	Full ROI →
12	Rutgers University-Newark Grad rate: 66.9%	NJ	+$427,162	$66,733	$33,749	N/A	Full ROI →
13	Rutgers University-New Brunswick Grad rate: 84.7%	NJ	+$424,196	$66,733	$35,232	N/A	Full ROI →
14	Harvard University Grad rate: 97.5%	MA	+$402,116	$70,390	$82,842	N/A	Full ROI →
15	Pratt Institute-Main Grad rate: 74.4%	NY	+$390,294	$69,168	$76,533	N/A	Full ROI →
16	New York University Grad rate: 87.8%	NY	+$373,358	$68,580	$79,121	N/A	Full ROI →
17	Portland State University Grad rate: 52.9%	OR	+$344,742	$61,482	$22,449	N/A	Full ROI →
18	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Grad rate: 49.6%	WI	+$328,872	$60,661	$22,174	N/A	Full ROI →
19	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Grad rate: 92.4%	GA	+$302,606	$59,910	$27,797	N/A	Full ROI →
20	University of Florida Grad rate: 90.7%	FL	+$302,502	$59,297	$21,719	N/A	Full ROI →
21	University of Oregon Grad rate: 72.5%	OR	+$291,988	$59,863	$32,636	N/A	Full ROI →
22	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Grad rate: 45.6%	CO	+$288,122	$58,743	$23,369	N/A	Full ROI →
23	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Grad rate: 91.7%	NC	+$279,518	$58,494	$25,181	N/A	Full ROI →
24	Florida State University Grad rate: 83.9%	FL	+$279,354	$58,336	$23,683	N/A	Full ROI →
25	University of Iowa Grad rate: 73.4%	IA	+$271,834	$58,280	$26,883	N/A	Full ROI →
26	Columbia University in the City of New York Grad rate: 95.1%	NY	+$265,836	$63,896	$86,042	N/A	Full ROI →
27	University of Pennsylvania Grad rate: 96.5%	PA	+$256,084	$63,378	$85,738	N/A	Full ROI →
28	Cornell University Grad rate: 95.2%	NY	+$244,428	$62,541	$83,196	N/A	Full ROI →
29	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Grad rate: 93.2%	MI	+$244,010	$57,535	$33,345	N/A	Full ROI →
30	The University of Texas at San Antonio Grad rate: 52.3%	TX	+$236,112	$55,953	$21,474	N/A	Full ROI →
31	Ohio State University-Main Campus Grad rate: 87.9%	OH	+$211,720	$55,518	$29,320	N/A	Full ROI →
32	University of Virginia-Main Campus Grad rate: 95.3%	VA	+$199,676	$55,797	$38,132	N/A	Full ROI →
33	University of Illinois Chicago Grad rate: 60.9%	IL	+$193,624	$54,381	$26,998	N/A	Full ROI →
34	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Grad rate: 67.4%	AZ	+$156,146	$52,612	$28,047	N/A	Full ROI →
35	University of Louisville Grad rate: 61.4%	KY	+$137,354	$51,952	$30,843	N/A	Full ROI →
36	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Grad rate: 83.1%	MA	+$133,402	$52,009	$33,389	N/A	Full ROI →
37	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Grad rate: 52.1%	NM	+$108,954	$49,545	$20,973	N/A	Full ROI →
38	University of Hawaii at Manoa Grad rate: 62.5%	HI	+$81,596	$48,463	$23,832	N/A	Full ROI →
39	Temple University Grad rate: 76.3%	PA	+$77,082	$49,834	$39,799	N/A	Full ROI →
40	University of Arizona Grad rate: 66.9%	AZ	+$62,734	$47,991	$28,543	N/A	Full ROI →

How ROI is calculated

20-Year Net ROI = Gross Earnings (salary × 20) − Total Degree Cost − Debt Payoff (×1.35) − Baseline Opportunity Cost ($42,000 × 20). Data from the U.S. College Scorecard.

Find Best City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning Degrees by State

Browse City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning programs ranked by 20-year ROI in every state that offers this degree.