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Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in California

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2023 Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in California

7 Colleges
$27,848 Avg Salary
$22,011 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Culinary Arts School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,378 degrees and certificates were awarded to culinary arts students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #16 most popular major in the state.

With all the trade school programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Trade College Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 7 schools in California to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for trade school students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Culinary Arts Schools in California

Check out the culinary arts programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top California Trade Schools in Culinary Arts

Our analysis found Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles to be the best school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a degree in California. Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles is a small private for-profit school located in the midsize city of Pasadena.

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#2

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Cerritos College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in California list. Cerritos College is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Norwalk.

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#3

CET, San Jose

San Jose, CA

Out of the 7 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, CET, San Jose landed the # 3 spot on the list. CET, San Jose is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Jose.

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Out of the 7 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Antelope Valley landed the # 4 spot on the list. UAV is a small private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Lancaster.

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#5

Riverside City College

Riverside, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Riverside City College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Riverside, Riverside City College is a public school with a large student population.

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Institute of Technology landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best culinary arts programs. Fresno Institute of Technology is a small private for-profit school located in the suburb of Clovis.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Institute of Technology

Los Angeles Trade Technical College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best culinary arts programs. Los Angeles Trade Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Los Angeles Trade Technical College

Best Culinary Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Culinary Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 342
Oregon 123
Nevada 74
Alaska 33
Hawaii 212

Culinary Arts is one of 4 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Culinary Arts Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Culinary Arts/Chef Training 9,052
Baking & Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef 4,322
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts 3,156
Restaurant, Culinary, & Catering Management/Manager 1,380
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant 801
Other Culinary Arts & Related Services 411
Culinary Science/Culinology 196
Bartending/Bartender 183
Institutional Food Workers 157
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, & Dining Room Management/Manager 84
Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter 35
Wine Steward/Sommelier 7

Related Major Annual Graduates
Cosmetology 107,895
Funeral & Mortuary Science 2,354
Casino Operations and Services 192
Other Personal & Culinary Services 81

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 7 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to U.S. Army Europe Images.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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