About

This website supports the goals of California’s Strong Workforce Program (SWP), an initiative designed to expand career technical education (CTE) programs in the state’s community colleges, further improve response to workforce demands, and deliver the skill sets required by our local employers. To implement the SWP, seven regional consortia were established by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office to provide leadership in the creation and implementation of career education. The North Far North Regional Consortium (NFNRC) is charged with coordinating the planning and implementation of the program in the North Far North Region of California.

NFNRC serves the largest geographic area of the state, from the Sacramento Metro area north to the Oregon border, and from the North Coast across the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges to the Nevada border. The North Far North Region is comprised of two subregions and 15 colleges.

The Greater Sacramento Area region (the “North”) encompasses seven counties (El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba) and includes eight colleges:

The Far North region encompasses 15 counties (Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity) and includes seven colleges:

Frequently Asked Questions

What industries are featured here and why?

The statewide Strong Workforce Program identifies the industry sectors from which regional consortia can select to meet their local industry needs.

Industries are classified according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Occupations are classified using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Industries and occupations were aligned to the priority industry sectors using crosswalks developed by the Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research.

Where does the industry data come from?

Data about jobs and wages comes from Lightcast and covers the period 2020 through 2025. Job counts and annual openings represent employed and self-employed workers. Lightcast occupational employment data is based on final Lightcast industry data and staffing patterns. Wage estimates are based on Occupational Employment Statistics (QCEW and Non-QCEW Employees classes of worker) and the American Community Survey (Self-Employed and Extended Proprietors). Occupational wage estimates are also affected by county-level Lightcast earnings by industry.

The North Far North Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research compiled the industry data used on this website.

How should I interpret the Top 10 lists?

The top employer and skill lists represent the sector’s top 10-20 occupations and come from Lightcast job posting analytics. The top employers and skills (specialized, common, and software) are those with the most job postings between August 2020 and July 2022 and are listed in descending order from most to fewest job postings.

Please note that the lists of employers and skills represent the entire group of top occupations for each industry sector. However, occupations with larger numbers of job postings have more influence on the top employer and skill lists. As a result, these lists may look different from an individual’s expectations.

The top 10 skills represent a subset of skills needed for employment in the sectors’ top occupations, and are not exclusive to any one occupation. As a result, simply having one or a random combination of the skills listed may not result in employment. Prospective students interested in a particular career should carefully examine community college offerings to determine which program best aligns to their goals.

How are the “Top Jobs” determined?

Each industry page’s list of top jobs is based on those occupations coded to that industry, those aligned with credentials and/or experience that can obtained at a community college, and those with the highest number of annual job openings or projected growth in each part of the region. Data is from Lightcast, and is based on final industry data and staffing patterns. Wage estimates are based on Occupational Employment Statistics (QCEW and Non-QCEW Employees classes of worker) and the American Community Survey (Self-Employed and Extended Proprietors). Occupational wage estimates are also affected by county-level Emsi earnings by industry.

How does the “View programs” link work for a listed job? Why do some jobs not have a link?

Jobs are linked to educational programs using a crosswalk that matches a job’s SOC to a related program’s Taxonomy of Programs (TOP) Code. This crosswalk helps to show the relationship between an occupation and its related program(s) of study. At times, there is no match between a SOC and TOP. In some cases, there is currently no program available in the region that aligns with a job listed. We encourage you to explore related programs by using the Browse Colleges link at the top of each industry page and/or using filters on the main Colleges page.

Where did the college program data come from?

College program data was prepared by the RP Group as part of a project aimed at analyzing CTE program offerings at the regional level. This process began with downloading data from the Chancellor’s Office Data Mart, a publicly available website that houses an inventory of courses and programs (i.e., certificates and degrees) submitted annually by each California community college to the Chancellor’s Office. This data was then refined to identify programs that were classified as CTE programs. Colleges reviewed their own data to validate its accuracy and completeness and to ensure it included all CTE degrees and certificates the college currently offers. For more information about the methodology, please see the project’s Practice Brief.