Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Economics degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $46,087 two years after finishing, more than 70% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 807 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

B

The verdict on the money

Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level.

Median earnings $46,087 2 years after finishing
Typical range $41,087–$52,607 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$6,567 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 35,879 807 programmes

Where a Economics degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology cost & debt at this university → not published $110,878 not published 13
2 Princeton University cost & debt at this university → $81,961 $103,078 not published 132
3 Duke University cost & debt at this university → $94,699 $90,856 $112,646 199
4 Claremont McKenna College cost & debt at this university → $95,566 $87,754 $91,488 124
5 Dartmouth College cost & debt at this university → $85,069 $87,604 $98,252 196
6 Yale University cost & debt at this university → $87,166 $86,621 $91,001 182
7 University of Chicago cost & debt at this university → $82,564 $85,637 $96,012 622
8 Stanford University cost & debt at this university → $60,475 $85,391 $104,592 112
9 Swarthmore College cost & debt at this university → $56,029 $81,702 $88,391 76
10 Columbia University in the City of New York $73,902 $79,419 $87,202 360
11 Harvard University cost & debt at this university → $89,515 $78,971 $100,286 258
12 Pomona College cost & debt at this university → $67,038 $77,213 not published 67

What this figure does and does not tell you

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median bachelor's major in this dataset reports $37,568, so Economics sits above the middle by $8,519.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Economics at other levels

Master's — $64,290 (C)

Scholarships for Economics students

Whatever the subject pays, the money you do not borrow is the money you keep.

HKBU Fully Funded International Scholarship (IPS) Scheme in Ho... Lebanese American University (TLG) Scholarship Program , 2019
See all Economics scholarships →

Study Economics Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

Applied Economics and Policy — University of Windsor Applied Economics — Queen's University Applied Economics — University of Winnipeg Economics - Applied Economics — University of Waterloo Economics - Applied Economics - Water — University of Waterloo Master of Applied Economics and Management — Macquarie University

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Accounting and Related Services — $47,260 Finance and Financial Management Services — $49,864 Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management — $51,035 Statistics — $53,897 Management Information Systems and Services — $56,099 Computer and Information Sciences, General — $58,157

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We may earn a commission if you take a loan through a provider here. It never changes the earnings figures on this page — those come from the US Department of Education.

Economics: the questions people ask

How much do Economics graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $46,087 two years after finishing, across 427 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $45,884.
Is a Economics degree worth it?
Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level. The median graduate earns $6,567 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Economics?
Half of US programmes report medians between $41,087 and $52,607. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Economics each year?
About 35,879 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 807 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.
All degree grades Highest paying majors Most popular majors University costs & payback

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.