The 10 Highest Paying College Majors (and 10 Lowest)

Engineering degrees took nine out of 10 spots on the list of the 10 highest paying college majors, five years after graduation.

Pink and white books with college graduation cap and lightbulbs
(Image credit: Getty Images)

No surprise, majoring in engineering and finance yields the biggest paydays five years after graduating college, while majoring in liberal arts or performing arts pays the least. But which specific majors result in the highest and lowest paydays? A recent New York Federal Reserve survey takes a look.

Regarding the broader jobs picture, over 272,000 jobs were added in May, according to the Kiplinger Jobs Outlook. That was a pickup from the 165,000 gain in April, but down from the 310,000 gain in the March report. The strongest growth was in health care, government, leisure and hospitality, and professional scientific and technical services. Temporary jobs dropped again in May, and have fallen in 24 out of the past 25 months.

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Swipe to scroll horizontally
MajorMedian Wage Early CareerMedian Wage Mid Career
Chemical Engineering$79.000$133,000
Computer Engineering$80,000$125,000
Aerospace Engineering$74,000$120,000
Electrical Engineering$72,000$112,000
Mechanical Engineering$70,000$111,000
Computer Science$78,000$110,000
Finance$66,000$104,000
Industrial Engineering$71,000$100,000
General Engineering$68,000$100,000
Miscellaneous Engineering$68,000$100,000
Swipe to scroll horizontally
MajorMedian Wage Early CareerMedian Wage Mid Career
Liberal arts$38,000$65,000
Performing arts$38,000$64,000
Theology and religion$38,000$56,000
Leisure and hospitality$39,700$67,000
General social sciences$40,000$70,000
History$40,000$70,000
Miscellaneous biological science$40,000$68,000
Fine arts$40,000$68,000
Treatment therapy$40,000$67,000
Nutrition sciences$40,000$65,000

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Kathryn Pomroy
Contributor

For the past 18+ years, Kathryn has highlighted the humanity in personal finance by shaping stories that identify the opportunities and obstacles in managing a person's finances. All the same, she’ll jump on other equally important topics if needed. Kathryn graduated with a degree in Journalism and lives in Duluth, Minnesota. She joined Kiplinger in 2023 as a contributor.