Public · Community college

Los Medanos College

Pittsburg, California · Large suburb

7%
Transfer rate: $7,443
Avg net price: 41%
Grad / completion: $42,454
Median earnings

Los Medanos College is a public associate-granting institution in Pittsburg, California (large suburb setting), enrolling 7,320 undergraduates. It is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicMidsize · 7,320 undergradsLarge suburbCCCAANear the coast

About Pittsburg, California

Pittsburg is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Originally settled in 1839 as Rancho Los Méganos, the area of almost 10,000 acres was issued to Californios Jose Antonio Mesa and his brother Jose Miguel under a Mexican Land Grant by then Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado, one of the final land grants issued prior to the formation of California as a state. The Pittsburg Historical Museum, established in 1961, has been situated in the historic former Pittsburg Post Dispatch building since 2003. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Large suburb
Highest degree offered: Associate
Nearest big city: 31 miles to Stockton, CA
To the ocean: 2 miles
Nearest airport: 11 miles to Buchanan Field (CCR)

How Los Medanos College compares

#66 · Cheapest Community Colleges

Graduation rate41%

Higher than 27% · #295 of 382 in California

First-year retention74%

Higher than 53%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$42,454

Higher than 78% · #98 of 326 in California

Average net price$7,443

Cheaper than 80% · #70 cheapest of 377 in California

Student–faculty ratio23 : 1

Lower than 18%

Undergraduate enrollment7,320

Larger than 94%

Percentiles compare Los Medanos College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in California.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

Women4,23558%
Men3,08542%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White18%
Black13%
Hispanic47%
Asian13%
Other or multiracial9.1%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment: 7,320
Student–faculty ratio: 23 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 29%
First-generation students: 51%
Students over 25: 25%
Median family income: $16,223
Avg faculty salary (academic year): $98,901
Endowment: $1,299,406

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Where students come from

Home state of the 1,664 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

From California97%
Other U.S. states3.2%

Most first-years stay in state — Los Medanos College draws overwhelmingly from California.

Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.

Cost

In-state tuition: $1,312
Out-of-state tuition: $10,320
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $1,220
Total cost of attendance: $16,056
Average net price: $7,443

Outcomes

Graduated: 41%
First-year retention: 74%
Transferred to another college: 7%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $35,606
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $42,454
Median debt at graduation: —
Students with federal loans: 1%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 40%

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students

41%

First-generation

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing: No
Application fee: Free
Athletics: CCCAA
Varsity athletes: 163 (121 men · 42 women)

Varsity sports (5)

Football60

Baseball46

Basketball28

Soccer17

Volleyball12

Athlete counts per sport, Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25.

Campus safety

Safety grade: B
Reported offenses per 1,000 students: 2.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024): 1
Property offenses (2022–2024): 49

Reported offenses in an average year

The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.

17reported offenses a year

0.3 violent a year16 property a year

By offense type, per year

Burglary

Motor vehicle theft

3.7

Aggravated assault

0.3

Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k

$5,958

$30–48k

$6,455

$48–75k

$9,521

$75–110k

$11,863

$110k+

$7,051

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Los Medanos College funds essentially no grants of its own — almost all aid here comes from federal (Pell), state, or outside sources rather than the school's own discount. Its sticker price is what it is.

Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid, 2022–23 full-time first-year undergraduates.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years): $42,454
Typical debt at graduation: —
Debt vs. one year's pay: —
Out-earn a HS grad: 45%

Weigh it value

The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women

$39,652

Men

$48,084

Men out-earn women by $8,432 (21%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high: 91°F
Winter low: 40°F
Annual rain: 12.6″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Antioch Pumping Plt #3, CA US station (6.1 mi from campus).

What Los Medanos College graduates study — and earn

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesCert.

390 grads$30k 1 yr— 5 yr$10k debt

390$29,879—$9,500 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssoc.

347 grads$35k 1 yr$51k 5 yr$10k debt

347$35,283$50,777$9,500 Biological and Physical SciencesAssoc.

329 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

329———Business Administration, Management and OperationsAssoc.

102 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

102———Psychology, GeneralAssoc.

101 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

101———Human Development, Family Studies, and Related ServicesCert.

64 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

64———Criminal Justice and CorrectionsAssoc.

61 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

61———Criminal Justice and CorrectionsCert.

51 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

51———Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingAssoc.

39 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

39———Biology, GeneralAssoc.

35 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

35———SociologyAssoc.

32 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

32———Fire ProtectionAssoc.

31 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

31———

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Los Medanos College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Los Medanos College side by side →

MiraCosta College

Public

Oceanside, California · Large suburb · 34 mi to San Diego

Students: 10,278
Tuition: $1k
Transfer: 10%
Earnings: $44k

Glendale Community College

Public

Glendale, California · Midsize city · 8 mi to Los Angeles

Students: 10,509
Tuition: $1k
Transfer: 11%
Earnings: $42k

Folsom Lake College

Public

Folsom, California · Small city · 21 mi to Sacramento

Students: 9,414
Tuition: $1k
Transfer: 13%
Earnings: $43k

College of Alameda

Public

Alameda, California · Large suburb · 8 mi to San Francisco

Students: 4,487
Tuition: $1k
Transfer: 11%
Earnings: $43k

Butte College

Public

Oroville, California · Distant rural · 74 mi to Sacramento

Students: 8,890
Tuition: $1k
Transfer: 9%
Earnings: $42k

Allan Hancock College

Public

Santa Maria, California · Midsize city · 55 mi to Santa Barbara

Students: 8,052
Tuition: $1k
Transfer: 5%
Earnings: $43k

Colleges near Los Medanos College

Contra Costa Medical Career College

Antioch, CA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 556 students

4 mi

Mt. Diablo Adult Education-Mt. Diablo USD

Concord, CA · Public · Certificate · 172 students

9 mi

Urban Barber College

Concord, CA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 224 students

10 mi

Paul Mitchell the School-East Bay

Pleasant Hill, CA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 184 students

12 mi

Diablo Valley College

Pleasant Hill, CA · Public · Associate · 15,358 students

12 mi

Carrington College-Pleasant Hill Campus

Pleasant Hill, CA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 412 students

12 mi

J D Academy of Salon and Spa

Danville, CA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 91 students

15 mi

Saint Mary's College of California

Moraga, CA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,947 students

18 mi

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.