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Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?

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Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?

Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?

If you’re a college graduate, you likely went to school to pursue an important passion of yours.

But as we all know, what we major in has consequences that extend far beyond the foundation of knowledge we build in our early years. Any program we choose to enroll in also sets up a track to meet future friends, career opportunities, and connections.

Even further, the college degree you choose will partially dictate your future earning potential – especially in the first decade after school. If jobs in your field are in high demand, it can even set you up for long-term financial success, enabling you to pay off costly student loans and build up savings potential.

Data Backgrounder

Today’s chart comes to us from Reddit user /r/SportsAnalyticsGuy, and it’s based on PayScale’s year-long survey of 1.2 million users that graduated only with a bachelor degree in the United States. You can access the full set of data here.

The data covers two different salary categories:

Starting median salary: The median of what people were earning after they graduated with their degree.

Mid-career Percentiles: Salary data from 10 years after graduation, sorted by percentile (10th, 25th, Median, 75th, and 90th)

In other words, the starting median salary represents what people started making after they graduated, and the rest of the chart depicts the range that people were making 10 years after they got their degree. Lower earners (10th percentile) are the lower bound, and higher earners (90th) are the upper bound.

College Degrees, by Salary

What college majors win out?

Here’s all 50 majors from the data set, sorted by mid-career median salary (10 years in):

RankUndergraduate MajorStarting MedianMid-Career Median% Change
#1Chemical Engineering$63,200$107,00069.3%
#2Computer Engineering$61,400$105,00071.0%
#3Electrical Engineering$60,900$103,00069.1%
#4Aerospace Engineering$57,700$101,00075.0%
#5Economics$50,100$98,60096.8%
#6Physics$50,300$97,30093.4%
#7Computer Science$55,900$95,50070.8%
#8Industrial Engineering$57,700$94,70064.1%
#9Mechanical Engineering$57,900$93,60061.7%
#10Math$45,400$92,400103.5%
#11Physician Assistant$74,300$91,70023.4%
#12Civil Engineering$53,900$90,50067.9%
#13Construction$53,700$88,90065.5%
#14Finance$47,900$88,30084.3%
#15Management Information Systems (MIS)$49,200$82,30067.3%
#16Philosophy$39,900$81,200103.5%
#17International Relations$40,900$80,90097.8%
#18Chemistry$42,600$79,90087.6%
#19Marketing$40,800$79,60095.1%
#20Geology$43,500$79,50082.8%
#21Political Science$40,800$78,20091.7%
#22Accounting$46,000$77,10067.6%
#23Architecture$41,600$76,80084.6%
#24Information Technology (IT)$49,100$74,80052.3%
#25Business Management$43,000$72,10067.7%
#26Agriculture$42,600$71,90068.8%
#27History$39,200$71,00081.1%
#28Communications$38,100$70,00083.7%
#29Film$37,900$68,50080.7%
#30Nursing$54,200$67,00023.6%
#31Journalism$35,600$66,70087.4%
#32Geography$41,200$65,50059.0%
#33Art History$35,800$64,90081.3%
#34Biology$38,800$64,80067.0%
#35English$38,000$64,70070.3%
#36Forestry$39,100$62,60060.1%
#37Anthropology$36,800$61,50067.1%
#38Health Care Administration$38,800$60,60056.2%
#39Psychology$35,900$60,40068.2%
#40Graphic Design$35,700$59,80067.5%
#41Sociology$36,500$58,20059.5%
#42Hospitality & Tourism$37,800$57,50052.1%
#43Drama$35,900$56,90058.5%
#44Criminal Justice$35,000$56,30060.9%
#45Nutrition$39,900$55,30038.6%
#46Music$35,900$55,00053.2%
#47Interior Design$36,100$53,20047.4%
#48Spanish$34,000$53,10056.2%
#49Education$34,900$52,00049.0%
#50Religion$34,100$52,00052.5%

Based on this data, there are a few interesting things to point out.

The top earning specialization out of college is for Physician Assistants, with a median starting salary of $74,300. The downside of this degree is that earning potential levels out quickly, only showing a 23.4% increase in earning power 10 years in.

In contrast, the biggest increases in earning power go to Math, Philosophy, Economics, Marketing, Physics, Political Science, and International Relations majors. All these degrees see a 90% or higher increase from median starting salary to median mid-career salary.

In absolute terms, the majors that saw the highest median mid-career salaries were all along the engineering spectrum: chemical engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and aerospace engineering all came in above $100,000. They also generally had very high starting salaries.

As a final note, it’s important to recognize that this data does not necessarily correlate to today’s degrees or job market. The data set is based on people that graduated at least a decade ago – and therefore, it does not necessarily represent what grads may experience as they are starting their careers today.

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Misc

Charted: Car Brand Loyalty in 2024

This ranking of car brand loyalty shows what percentage of owners would buy from the same brand for their next vehicle.

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Car Brand Loyalty in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic visualizes the best and worst car brands in terms of brand loyalty. This is measured by the % of current owners who would buy from the same brand for their next vehicle.

Data comes from Consumer Reports’ owner satisfaction survey, which includes responses from owners of more than 330,000 vehicles.

Car Brands With the Most Loyal Customers

Rivian takes the top spot in this ranking, with 86% of owners saying they would buy from the brand again. The EV startup has carved an interesting niche for itself with its outdoor adventure-focused models, and despite several recalls, appears to have won the hearts of its early customers.

Company% who would buy again
🇺🇸 Rivian86
🇩🇪 Mini77
🇩🇪 BMW76
🇩🇪 Porsche76
🇺🇸 Tesla74
🇰🇷 Genesis73
🇯🇵 Lexus73
🇯🇵 Subaru70

It’s interesting to note that Tesla held the #1 spot in last year’s ranking.

Car Brands With the Least Loyal Customers

At the other end of the spectrum we have brands with the least loyal customers, suggesting that owners are less satisfied with their purchase.

Company% who would buy again
🇺🇸 Cadillac61
🇺🇸 Chrysler60
🇩🇪 Mercedes-Benz59
🇩🇪 Audi59
🇺🇸 Jeep58
🇯🇵 Nissan55
🇩🇪 Volkswagen51
🇯🇵 Infiniti43

At the bottom of this table is Nissan’s luxury marque, Infiniti, with only 43% of owners saying they would revisit the brand for their next car.

Infiniti dealerships are aware of this alarming trend, and have attributed it to the brand’s aging lineup. In a recent interview, Steve Lapin, Chairman of the Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board, said: “Product is king. Infiniti doesn’t have the right products right now to compete in the marketplace.”

Interested in learning more about the automotive industry? Check out this graphic, which ranks the world’s top 10 exporters of automotive products.

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