Ranked

Highest paying college majors in the US

Ranked on what graduates earn two years after finishing — every major we hold federal earnings for, best first.

#MajorLevelGradeMedian earningsTypical rangeGraduates/yr
41 Finance Bachelor's B $49,864 $44,356–$55,348 47,431
42 Hospitality Management Master's C $49,058 $45,383–$57,860 1,226
43 Special Education Master's C $48,685 $44,021–$54,275 19,550
44 Natural Resources and Conservation Master's C $48,432 $41,205–$54,528 3,728
45 Microbiology Master's C $48,432 $35,600–$49,323 998
46 Dietetics and Nutrition Master's C $47,846 $46,087–$50,105 1,804
47 Accounting Bachelor's B $47,260 $42,123–$53,629 42,077
48 Health Services Master's D $46,966 $39,909–$55,964 1,209
49 Political Science Master's D $46,283 $37,208–$50,856 2,000
50 Architecture Bachelor's B $46,087 $39,369–$50,141 3,714
51 Economics Bachelor's B $46,087 $41,087–$52,607 35,879
52 Communications Master's D $45,715 $40,728–$53,775 4,685
53 Criminal Justice Master's D $45,715 $39,009–$52,289 6,816
54 Teaching Master's D $45,668 $41,789–$50,439 27,930
55 Social Work Master's D $44,960 $42,263–$48,432 34,645
56 Mathematics Bachelor's B $43,687 $38,289–$49,436 19,260
57 Psychology Master's D $42,682 $38,289–$48,265 6,941
58 Marketing Bachelor's C $42,154 $37,896–$46,478 44,419
59 Business Bachelor's C $42,154 $37,208–$48,225 25,323
60 Business Administration Bachelor's C $41,937 $37,503–$47,260 160,246
61 Journalism Master's D $41,863 $38,289–$47,260 1,525
62 Physics Bachelor's C $41,193 $34,847–$48,432 7,710
63 Exercise Science Master's D $40,843 $37,856–$45,128 9,192
64 Sociology Master's D $40,560 $31,314–$41,565 1,358
65 History Master's F $39,927 $33,993–$44,468 3,626
66 English Master's F $39,261 $32,925–$42,682 3,937
67 Healthcare Administration Bachelor's C $39,009 $35,416–$44,783 16,905
68 Social Sciences Master's F $38,481 $37,208–$49,058 1,618
69 Chemistry Bachelor's C $38,289 $33,281–$41,937 13,229
70 Biology Master's F $38,289 $28,212–$46,087 7,761
71 Family and Consumer Sciences Bachelor's C $38,108 $38,018–$41,193 475
72 Pharmacy Bachelor's C $37,705 $29,593–$41,937 2,784
73 Special Education Bachelor's C $37,568 $34,450–$40,821 8,867
74 Hospitality Management Bachelor's C $36,497 $33,192–$40,140 7,940
75 Teaching Bachelor's C $35,605 $32,485–$38,721 51,441
76 Geography Bachelor's C $35,420 $31,133–$38,829 3,429
77 Criminal Justice Bachelor's C $34,420 $31,205–$37,208 48,051
78 Microbiology Bachelor's C $34,207 $29,685–$38,289 3,108
79 Political Science Bachelor's C $33,993 $29,751–$37,896 41,107
80 Communications Bachelor's D $33,710 $29,685–$37,208 44,591

Why engineering, computing and health lead every list like this

The majors at the top feed occupations with a licence, a shortage, or both. That is a fact about the labour market rather than about the difficulty of the subject — and it is why the same handful of fields tops this table in every country that publishes graduate earnings.

The gap inside a major is wider than the gap between majors

Each row is a median across every US programme in that field. Open any one and the range between the 25th and 75th programme is often $20,000 or more. Where you study, and what you do alongside the degree, moves your number more than swapping subjects does.

Questions

What is the highest paying college major?
Finance (Bachelor's) — $49,864 median earnings two years after finishing, across 766 US programmes.
Are these starting salaries?
No. They are median earnings two years after students completed the degree, taken from tax records rather than surveys or job adverts.
Can I compare a master's with a bachelor's here?
Only with care. Each grade is a percentile inside its own credential level, so an A master's and an A bachelor's are both top-of-their-level rather than equal in salary.
All degree grades Most popular majors Lowest earning majors University costs & payback Scholarships

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study earnings, measured two years after completion. Majors with too few programmes publishing earnings are left out rather than estimated.