Highest-Paying College Majors: 2025 Statistics

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the overall average starting salary for 2023 college graduates was $63,720.2 However, this figure varied widely by field. This report breaks down income by major, including the highest-paying college majors.

Computer science and engineering majors made the most right after college, however, graduates who majored in business, economics, and math also made median wages well over $50,000.

Computer science, computer engineering, and chemical engineering majors boasted the highest early-career salaries in 2023, with median earnings of $80,000 immediately after graduating, according to 2025 data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.^{Note Reference [1]}

Salaries for all types of engineering majors were generally higher at $70,000-$80,000 a year upon graduation.

Most majors who had high early-career earnings also saw high mid-career earnings in 2023.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York:^{Note Reference [1]}

Depending on the specific major, those who studied business earned an early-career median wage of $57,000-$70,000.1 The mid-career median wage range was $88,000-$110,000.

Computer science majors made a median early-career salary of $80,000 in 2023. This figure increased to $115,000 by mid-career — a 5% increase in salary from the previous year.^{Note Reference [1]}

Around 33% of computer science majors went on to get a graduate degree in computer science. This may suggest that the majority of computer science graduates did not feel the need to pursue higher degrees in their field to make higher salaries.^{Note Reference [1]}

Computer science also has one of the lowest underemployment rates: 16.5%.^{Note Reference [1]}

The BLS projects positions for computer and information research scientists to increase by 26% from 2023-2033. This will translate to roughly 3,400 job openings each year on average for the next 10 years.^{Note Reference [5]} The growth rate for these professionals is much higher than the national 4% average growth rate across all occupations.^{Note Reference [5]}

In 2023, psychology majors made a median wage of $45,000 a year right out of college and then $70,000 by mid-career.^{Note Reference [1]} Psychology majors also had a high underemployment rate of 45.4%.

Unemployment rates for other social science majors ranged from 54.4% for sociology to 50.6% for political science.^{Note Reference [1]}

Depending on the specific major, those studying the sciences made a median early-career salary of $42,000-$70,000. By mid-career, this range increased to $75,000-$100,000.^{Note Reference [1]}

Science Majors Salaries, 2023

Out of some other popular subjects, STEM and adjacent majors made the most. Economics, math, and information systems and management topped the list with a median early-career wage of $65,000-$70,000.^{Note Reference [1]}

While median income is a helpful way to gauge the money-making potential of a field, you can also consider which majors are in demand to measure employability. For example, foreign language majors may earn a median mid-career wage of $70,000 a year, but they also have an underemployment rate of 51.1%.1

Over half of all foreign language graduates (50.5%), chemistry majors (65.5%), and physics majors (67.9%) go on to earn graduate-level degrees.1 This means roughly 65% of bachelor’s degree-holders in chemistry, for example, go on to get a master’s or doctorate in that same field. Even if a field’s projected salary seems decent, it’s worth considering other factors when choosing a major.