Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a History degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $29,685 two years after finishing, more than 14% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 1,267 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

D

The verdict on the money

Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around.

Median earnings $29,685 2 years after finishing
Typical range $25,856–$33,604 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree — vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 23,955 1,267 programmes

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

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Amherst College cost & debt at this university → $43,271 $74,576 $84,030 28
2 University of Pennsylvania cost & debt at this university → $50,380 $53,775 $58,114 54
3 Duke University cost & debt at this university → $45,091 $52,941 not published 45
4 Bates College cost & debt at this university → not published $51,273 $55,661 16
5 Dartmouth College cost & debt at this university → $42,685 $50,856 $62,107 41
6 Rice University cost & debt at this university → not published $49,840 $61,295 17
7 Harvard University cost & debt at this university → $50,411 $49,644 $60,343 161
8 Williams College cost & debt at this university → $40,036 $49,464 $44,771 55
9 The University of Texas at Dallas cost & debt at this university → $33,516 $48,041 $54,621 32
10 Texas Christian University cost & debt at this university → not published $47,260 not published 26
11 Southern Methodist University cost & debt at this university → $35,802 $47,260 $50,428 23
12 New York University cost & debt at this university → $45,990 $47,260 $43,232 82

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 History sits below the middle by $7,883.

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.

History at other levels

Master's — $39,927 (F)

Scholarships for History students

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

150 Fully Funded PhD Degree Scholarships for International Stu... Richard Rogers Fellowship Residencies at Harvard Graduate Scho... 12 Fully-funded Birkbeck Postgraduate Research Scholarships in... Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Toronto in Canada, 20... School of Philosophy and Art History Research Scholarship Sche... Pears Foundation PhD Scholarships at University of Sussex in U...
See all History scholarships →

Study History Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

History of Religions — Stockholm University PhD in Economic History — Lund University Early Modern History — Uppsala University American History — University of Cambridge PhD in History (University of Cambridge) — University of Cambridge History — University of Cambridge

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

Natural Resources Conservation and Research — $31,364 Sociology — $31,443 Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General — $31,594 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services — $32,162 Social Work — $32,249 Journalism — $32,429

Funding the degree Lenders that fund US and international students — compare the rate before you sign.

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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.

History: the questions people ask

How much do History graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $29,685 two years after finishing, across 557 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $28,939.
Is a History degree worth it?
Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around.
What is the salary range for History?
Half of US programmes report medians between $25,856 and $33,604. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in History each year?
About 23,955 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 1,267 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.