These fields lead to high-paying jobs right out of college
Fact checked by Pete RathburnReviewed by Margaret James
With the average cost of a college degree rising every year, the economic implications of choosing a major have an even greater impact on the future. Even if getting a good financial return on your college investment isn’t the only factor in your choice of programs, it certainly should be part of the equation.
We compiled a list of the bachelor’s degrees that lead to the highest starting salaries using data from Payscale’s College Salary Report, which ranks the early career salaries every year including those who just started in their fields. Those surveyed had anywhere from zero to five years of experience. The 2023-2024 report had salary statistics for a total of 799 different majors.
What follows are the top 10 average starting salaries for workers with a bachelor’s degree.
Key Takeaways
- Knowing the college degrees that deliver the best salaries after graduation can help set you on the right path toward a great financial future.
- STEM-related fields dominate the top 10 list of highest starting salaries, including different types of engineering degrees.
- People with degrees in physician assistant studies have the highest starting salaries.
- Aeronautics and astronautics round out the list.
1. Physician Assistant Studies
Physician assistants work in teams with surgeons, physicians, and other healthcare practitioners in the medical field. You can expect to work in various settings, including hospitals, doctors’ offices, and clinics. You will need a license granted by your state to begin working.
Payscale reported an average starting salary of $109,600, enough to grab the number one listing. However, mid-career earnings are only $136,500, dropping the field to number 56 on the list. The BLS listed the median annual salary for physician assistants as $126,010 in 2022.
The job growth rate for these professionals is expected to be above average compared with others. The field is expected to grow by 27% between 2022 and 2032, which is much faster than average. It’s estimated that 39,300 jobs will open up every year during this 10-year period.
2. Operations Research and Industrial Engineering
This major combines two disciplines into one. People who study operations research use their math and computer skills and must be interested in business, analysis, statistics, and computer programming. Industrial engineers help make things run more smoothly and safely while making processes more efficient and effective.
Payscale reported early salaries for this field at $98,300, occupying second place. And the potential to earn $191,800 by the time you hit your mid-career mark keeps it at second place.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports these two categories separately. Operations research analysts made a median annual salary of $85,720 in 2022. Industrial engineers earned a median annual salary of $96,350 in 2022. Job growth for the former is put at 23% from 2022 to 2032, with about 24,700 openings annually. The latter has a predicted growth rate of just 12%, but that translates to 38,400 openings per year.
3. Petroleum Engineering
Engineering degrees of different sorts dominate the list when it comes to initial compensation. Petroleum engineers work in the oil and gas industry. These professionals research, design, and develop different ways to extract fossil fuels from the Earth.
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in this discipline can earn you as much as $97,500, good enough for third place. Happily, this jumps to an average of $212,500 in mid-career, putting petroleum engineers in first place by a $20,700 margin.
According to the BLS, the median annual salary for a petroleum engineer in 2022 was $131,800. Job growth was expected to be in the range of 2% between 2022 and 2032, about 500 jobs per year.
4. Nuclear Engineering Technology
Professionals in this field are responsible for the research and development (R&D) of tools and processes required for nuclear energy. Nuclear engineers work in teams and may work with new or existing systems. Others work to decommission systems that need to be replaced. Areas of specialty in this field include those who deal with processes, reactors, health and safety, and quality control.
Nuclear engineers come in fourth for average starting salary, earning $92,500. However, they drop precipitously to 117th place in mid-career, taking in just $122,800, according to Payscale.
The median annual salary for nuclear engineers, according to the BLS, was $122,480 in 2022. However, the field is expected to show a decline of employment by 1% between 2022 and 2032, with only 100 jobs expected to open up each year during those 10 years.
5. Operations Research
Operations researchers show up on Payscale’s list of highest-paying starting salaries for a second time—this time as a separate major. Operations research degrees are often part of the engineering departments of most schools.
Payscale reported early salaries for operations researchers as $92,200, making it fifth on the list. Mid-career salaries jump up to $160,000, making the profession slip down one notch to sixth place.
Important
While some fields require advanced degrees, a bachelor’s degree in the right major can lead to a high-paying job right away.
6. Metallurgical Engineering
Metals can be transformed into just about anything you can imagine, from microchips and cars to surgical instruments and appliances. Metallurgical engineers study metals and how they can be safely converted for use by humans.
If you’re entering the metallurgical engineering field, you can expect to start earning an average of $90,800 per year. Your salary could increase to $135,500 in the middle of your career, sliding from sixth to 61st place on the list.
These engineers fall into the materials engineering category in the BLS’s Occupational Outlook Handbook. According to the agency, materials engineers earned an average of $100,140 in 2022. The rate of job growth in this category is expected to be 5%, with roughly 1,100 jobs opening every year between 2022 and 2032.
7. Computer Science and Engineering
If you’re looking for a career that allows you to use your love for computing technology in a business setting, this may be the field for you. Computer science and business is a combined major for those who want to work in an IT setting. It gives professionals both a technical and business background. Coursework concentrates on commerce and computer science.
The College Salary Report lists the average starting salary for computer science and business graduates in seventh place at $90,500. However, the mid-career salary for this career drops down to 26th place at $148,200.
Jobs in this field fall under the BLS’s computer and information research scientists. These professionals earned an average of $136,620 in 2022. The field is expected to grow by 23% by 2032, with as many as 8,300 jobs opening up annually.
8. Computer Engineering
Computer engineers are responsible for creating new technologies by marrying electrical engineering and computer science. These professionals develop different products, such as computers and other personal devices, as well as computer networks, and computer systems.
Payscale ranks this major in eighth place for starting salary at $89,100 per year. Mid-career salaries for computer engineers can reach as high as $148,500 per year. Overall, this career path ranked in the 24th spot on Payscale’s list.
The BLS lists this career path as computer hardware engineers in its handbook. The average annual salary for this career path was $132,360 in 2022. The BLS expects to see 3,600 new jobs created each year between 2022 and 2032, with a growth rate of 5%.
9. Medicine
The term medicine is fairly broad and includes different career paths, including doctors, nurses, radiologists, ophthalmologists, surgeons, and neurologists to name a few.
This field falls in ninth place on Payscale’s list of careers with the highest salary. Those who enter the field can expect to earn $88,700 in the early stages of their careers and reach as high as $124,700 when they reach the mid-point of their careers.
The median salary in 2022 for physicians and surgeons was $229,300 per year, according to the BLS. As many as 24,600 jobs were expected to be created between 2022 and 2032, which is 3% or as fast as average. Registered nurses, on the other hand, earned an average of $81,220 per year in 2022. This field was expected to grow by 6%, which is faster than average with as many as 177,400 jobs in the 10 years between 2022 and 2032.
10. Aeronautics and Astronautics
Aeronautics and astronautics is a field of engineering that allows professionals to use their skills to design and develop missiles, aircraft, and other vehicles that are sent into space. Aeronautics deals with military-grade vehicles and equipment while astronautics relates to those that are developed and used in space exploration and travel.
The average annual starting salary was $88,200, according to Payscale. That figure jumps to $156,900 per year during the mid-career for professionals in this field.
Aerospace engineers fall into this category. According to the BLS, aerospace engineers earned $126,880 per year in 2022. The field is expected to grow by 6%, which is faster than average, with as many as 3,900 jobs being created each year between 2022 and 2032.
What College Degree Pays the Most in the Long Run?
The highest-paid college degree in mid-career is in petroleum engineering. Operations research and industrial engineering is the second-highest, while interaction design comes in third.
What Major Makes the Most Millionaires?
The college major that mints the most millionaires is engineering. There are many types of engineering, and the career is highly in demand, especially as new tech emerges and companies need engineers to fix problems and develop products from scratch.
What Degree Do Most CEOs Have?
A CEO is tasked with controlling a business as a whole. Because of the managerial requirements, a CEO typically has a degree in business administration, economics, business management, or possibly some other related field.
The Bottom Line
Many students pursue a master’s or other advanced degree after graduation. Nevertheless, the right bachelor’s degree can provide quite a nice paycheck, allowing you to start repaying your student loans while deciding whether an advanced degree makes sense for you. For a really impressive starting salary, backgrounds in engineering are among the most promising options.
However, starting salary isn’t everything, and many degrees that bring high initial earnings drop considerably down the list for mid-career salaries. There are also majors you should avoid if a high salary is a deciding factor in your education and career choices. In particular, those who choose to go into teaching, social work, or the arts are more likely to receive lower salaries. Still, choosing a college major and deciding what field of work to go in is a personal choice that each person should make on their own.
Read the original article on Investopedia.