Which college majors pay the most?

Of the 20 most common bachelor's degree majors, computer science paid the most four years after graduating: a median of $107,009 a year, 2.3 times the $47,382 of teacher education. These earnings cover only graduates who received federal student aid (grants or loans) and were working and not in school. They describe earnings in the two years through 2023, adjusted for inflation.

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Bars are sorted from highest to lowest and start at zero; each one's value is at its end.

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Key facts

Measure: Median earnings four years after graduating, dollars a year. Written from the data below.

  • Computer science has the highest figure, $107,009, followed by Computer and information sciences ($92,374) and Mechanical engineering ($92,135).
  • Teacher education has the lowest figure, $47,382, followed by English ($48,590) and Psychology ($50,706).
  • The highest is 2.3 times the lowest.

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Source and date

Source
U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “Which college majors pay the most?” Chart. Data: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/ (data as of December 31, 2023). https://chart.ly/charts/earnings-by-college-major (accessed November 4, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly. Developers can also get them as JSON (how).

Major (bachelor's degree) Median earnings four years after graduating, dollars a year
Computer science 107,009
Computer and information sciences 92,374
Mechanical engineering 92,135
Nursing 88,910
Finance 83,343
Economics 82,686
Accounting 76,194
Marketing 69,303
Business administration and management 68,257
Political science 63,293
Biology 57,214
Communication and media studies 56,359
Criminal justice 55,378
Kinesiology and physical education 54,562
Liberal arts and general studies 53,072
Sociology 52,657
Social work 51,790
Psychology 50,706
English 48,590
Teacher education 47,382

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