Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Microbiology degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $34,207 two years after finishing, more than 37% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 123 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

C

The verdict on the money

It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label.

Median earnings $34,207 2 years after finishing
Typical range $29,685–$38,289 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree — vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 3,108 123 programmes

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

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 North Carolina State University at Raleigh $39,532 $47,260 not published 32
2 San Jose State University cost & debt at this university → not published $44,835 not published —
3 North Dakota State University-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $32,924 $44,091 $44,896 14
4 California State University-Long Beach cost & debt at this university → $41,546 $43,798 not published 22
5 Miami University-Oxford $38,948 $42,235 not published 23
6 Weber State University cost & debt at this university → $30,584 $41,565 $46,195 44
7 University of California-Berkeley cost & debt at this university → $38,349 $41,565 not published 58
8 San Francisco State University cost & debt at this university → $47,260 $40,017 $53,914 —
9 Texas A&M University-College Station cost & debt at this university → not published $39,369 not published 35
10 Iowa State University cost & debt at this university → $35,690 $39,369 $45,961 32
11 University of California-Santa Barbara cost & debt at this university → $37,928 $39,369 not published 49
12 Texas State University cost & debt at this university → $32,190 $39,009 $43,383 39

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 $37,705, so Microbiology sits below the middle by $3,498.

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.

Microbiology at other levels

Master's — $48,432 (C)

Scholarships for Microbiology students

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

Biosciences International Masters Scholarship at University of... PhD Position in Microbiology-Comparative Systemsbiology in Ant... Postdoctoral Position in Periodontal Pathogenesis at Karolinsk... PhD Fellowships in Life Science at University of Lausanne in S... Antarctica Baillet Latour Antarctica Research Fellowship 2018 AGRA Borel Global Fellowship Program at the University of Dela...
See all Microbiology scholarships →

Study Microbiology Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

Applied Microbiology — Lund University BSc Biology (Immunology & Microbiology) — Uppsala University Clinical Microbiology — Umeå University Microbiology and Immunology — Dalhousie University Microbiology and Immunology — Dalhousie University Microbiology and Immunology — Dalhousie University

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

Criminal Justice — $34,420 Geography — $35,420 Teaching — $35,605 Hospitality Management — $36,497 Special Education — $37,568 Pharmacy — $37,705

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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.

Microbiology: the questions people ask

How much do Microbiology graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $34,207 two years after finishing, across 56 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $32,921.
Is a Microbiology degree worth it?
It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label.
What is the salary range for Microbiology?
Half of US programmes report medians between $29,685 and $38,289. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Microbiology each year?
About 3,108 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 123 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

Classified by the Department of Education as Microbiological Sciences and Immunology (CIP 2605). 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.