Fresno, CA (population: 490,930) has one sonography school within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Merced College has a total student population of 10,446. It is the 5474th highest ranked school in the USA and the 526th highest in the state of California (#1 is University of California-Los Angeles).
Sonography students from Fresno schools who go on to become sonographers, sonography specialists, diagnostic medical sonographers, ultrasonographers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 51,630 people working as diagnostic medical sonographers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $63,640. Also, Pediatricians, general make on average $161,410 per year and there are about 29,460 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Fresno area alone, there are 70 employed pediatricians, general earning an average salary of $173,310. Diagnostic medical sonographers in this area earn $68,830/yr and there are 150 employed.
Fresno lies in Fresno county, which is one of the 57 counties in California. Overall, the Fresno area has 323,470 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $19/hr average worker wage, and a $40,460 average annual salary. Thus, about 0 out of every 1000 jobs in Fresno are held by diagnostic medical sonographers, and 0/1000 are held by pediatricians, general.
After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Merced College ends up costing a student $4,519/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Fresno |
| Hanford | CA | 51,853 | 0 | - | 0 | 32.1 miles |
| Visalia | CA | 127,444 | 7 | 18.6498 | 161 | 40.6 miles |
| Merced | CA | 78,579 | 3 | 29.789 | 150 | 52.4 miles |
| Porterville | CA | 53,185 | 1 | 11.8615 | 42 | 65.3 miles |
| Ceres | CA | 43,443 | 0 | - | 0 | 85.9 miles |
| Sonora | CA | - | 1 | 10.5858 | 57 | 89.4 miles |
| Modesto | CA | 203,882 | 4 | 24.9737 | 137 | 89.9 miles |
| Salida | CA | - | 2 | 26.0837 | 19 | 95.8 miles |