Bachelor's Degrees by Salary Potential (Full List)

CHARTLIST

Rank	Major	Early Career Salary	Mid-Career Salary
1	Petroleum Engineering	$102,300	$176,300
2	Actuarial Mathematics	$60,800	$119,600
3	Nuclear Engineering	$67,000	$118,800
4	Chemical Engineering	$69,600	$116,700
5	Electronics & Communications Engineering	$64,100	$113,200
6	Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)	$66,500	$113,000
7	Computer Science (CS) & Engineering	$66,700	$112,600
8	Computer Engineering (CE)	$67,300	$108,600
9	Aerospace Engineering	$64,700	$107,900
9	Electrical Engineering (EE)	$65,900	$107,900
11	Materials Science & Engineering	$64,000	$105,100
11	Physics	$57,200	$105,100
13	Computer Science (CS)	$61,600	$103,600
14	Statistics	$54,900	$103,100
15	Mechanical Engineering (ME)	$62,100	$101,600
16	Computer Science (CS) & Mathematics	$63,200	$101,400
17	Software Engineering	$61,700	$99,800
18	Business & Information Technology (IT)	$56,900	$99,100
19	Economics	$51,400	$97,700
20	Industrial Engineering (IE)	$61,900	$97,200
21	Applied Mathematics	$54,300	$96,500
22	Management Information Systems (MIS)	$56,300	$95,500
23	Government	$45,100	$94,400
24	Civil Engineering (CE)	$55,100	$93,400
25	Mathematics	$50,300	$92,900
26	Biomedical Engineering (BME)	$59,600	$92,200
27	Civil & Environmental Engineering	$55,900	$91,800
28	Architectural Engineering	$57,000	$90,400
28	Environmental Engineering	$51,400	$90,400
30	Aviation Management	$48,100	$90,000
31	Computer Information Systems (CIS)	$52,400	$89,900
32	Construction Management	$54,000	$89,600
33	Finance	$50,900	$89,300
34	Biotechnology	$48,300	$89,000
35	Operations & Supply Chain Management	$51,300	$88,900
35	Information Systems (IS)	$53,500	$88,900
37	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	$44,700	$88,800
38	Telecommunications	$46,600	$88,400
39	Electrical Engineering Technology (EET)	$58,900	$88,200
40	Information Technology (IT)	$51,100	$86,500
41	Geology	$46,200	$86,200
42	Industrial Design (ID)	$47,700	$85,900
43	Information Security	$53,400	$85,800
44	International Business	$46,100	$85,400
44	Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET)	$56,600	$85,400
46	Accounting & Finance	$51,400	$85,300
47	Business Information Systems	$59,800	$85,100
48	Business & Marketing	$44,300	$84,100
49	Philosophy	$40,700	$84,000
50	Marketing Management	$42,800	$83,700
51	Supply Chain Management	$54,800	$83,600
52	Business Economics	$48,000	$83,400
52	Biochemistry (BCH)	$42,600	$83,400
54	Industrial Technology (IT)	$53,200	$83,300
55	Marketing & Management	$44,000	$82,900
56	Marketing (MKTG)	$43,000	$82,400
57	Chemistry	$44,200	$81,800
57	Occupational Health and Safety	$51,600	$81,800
59	Molecular Biology	$44,100	$81,700
60	Marketing & Communications	$41,000	$81,100
61	Project Management	$52,500	$80,900
62	Global & International Studies	$39,100	$80,600
63	Operations Management (OM)	$52,900	$80,500
64	International Relations	$43,200	$80,000
65	Pre-law	$42,600	$79,900
66	Sales & Marketing	$45,200	$79,800
67	Marketing & International Business	$44,500	$79,600
68	Fashion Design	$41,100	$79,500
69	Linguistics	$41,800	$79,300
70	Networks & Telecommunications	$50,300	$79,200
71	Business Management & Marketing	$43,500	$78,900
72	Political Science (PolySci)	$42,800	$78,500
73	Food Science	$45,400	$78,400
74	Advertising	$41,100	$77,500
75	Biology & Chemistry	$40,900	$77,100
76	Architecture	$42,600	$77,000
77	Civil Engineering Technology (CET)	$49,700	$76,900
78	Food Science & Technology	$44,100	$76,500
78	English Literature	$40,600	$76,500
80	Accounting	$46,500	$76,300
81	Information Technology (IT) & Systems	$51,400	$76,200
82	Marketing & Mass Communications	$39,800	$75,000
83	American Studies	$42,400	$74,900
84	General Business	$45,600	$74,800
84	Information Technology Management	$53,400	$74,800
86	Microbiology	$41,900	$74,500
86	Speech Communication	$43,100	$74,500
88	Industrial Psychology	$43,500	$74,400
89	Nursing	$56,900	$73,600
90	Environmental Studies	$38,500	$73,300
90	Technical Management	$46,800	$73,300
92	Hotel Management	$42,500	$73,200
93	Business Administration	$45,500	$73,100
94	Organizational Communication	$41,500	$73,000
95	Business Management & Human Resources Management (HRM)	$40,800	$72,700
95	Environmental Science	$42,000	$72,700
97	Film Production	$39,800	$72,300
97	History	$40,500	$72,300
99	Biology	$40,700	$72,000
100	Journalism	$39,000	$71,300
101	Health Sciences	$38,300	$71,200
102	Computer Networking Systems	$48,500	$70,900
102	Forestry	$40,700	$70,900
104	Communication	$41,000	$70,600
105	Urban Planning	$45,100	$70,500
106	Geography	$41,500	$70,200
107	Religious Studies	$35,700	$70,000
108	Journalism & Mass Communication	$39,900	$69,700
108	Broadcast Journalism	$36,100	$69,700
110	Agriculture	$40,900	$69,600
111	English Language & Literature	$38,500	$69,500
112	Accounting & Business	$45,500	$69,400
113	Accounting & Management	$47,600	$69,300
113	General Science	$43,200	$69,300
113	Landscape Architecture	$42,700	$69,300
116	Classics	$40,100	$68,900
117	Public Administration	$40,000	$68,500
118	Hotel & Restaurant Management	$41,400	$68,200
119	Interior Architecture	$39,500	$68,100
120	Geographic Information Systems (GIS)	$41,800	$67,900
121	Zoology	$39,000	$67,600
122	German Language	$42,400	$67,500
123	Organizational Leadership	$42,100	$67,400
124	Radio/Television & Film Production	$39,600	$66,900
125	Human Resources (HR)	$40,400	$66,200
126	Public Relations (PR)	$38,600	$65,800
127	French Language	$40,800	$65,400
128	Criminology	$37,900	$65,100
128	Human Resources Management (HRM)	$40,700	$65,100
130	Film, Video & Media Studies	$37,500	$64,900
131	Art History	$39,100	$64,800
132	English Language	$39,300	$64,600
133	Mass Communication	$39,700	$63,600
134	Health Information Management	$41,600	$63,400
135	Sports Medicine	$37,300	$62,700
136	Health Care Administration	$39,800	$62,100
137	Organizational Management	$43,200	$62,000
137	Visual Communications	$39,300	$62,000
139	Psychology	$37,300	$61,800
140	Broadcast Communication	$33,600	$61,600
141	Graphic Design, Illustration	$37,300	$61,500
142	Hospitality Management	$38,500	$61,200
143	Humanities	$39,700	$61,100
144	Music Performance	$36,800	$60,900
145	Interior Design	$37,100	$60,600
146	Advertising & Graphic Design	$39,100	$60,500
147	Hotel & Restaurant Tourism	$41,200	$60,400
148	Sociology	$38,600	$60,300
149	Medical Technology	$47,800	$60,200
150	Creative Writing	$37,100	$60,100
150	Fashion Merchandising	$40,000	$60,100
152	Clinical Laboratory Science	$48,000	$59,900
152	Hospitality & Tourism	$35,600	$59,900
154	Foods & Nutrition	$39,100	$59,800
154	Radio & Television	$38,000	$59,800
156	Kinesiology	$37,400	$59,700
157	Multimedia & Web Design	$43,400	$59,500
158	Liberal Arts	$37,000	$59,400
158	Theater	$37,300	$59,400
160	Drama	$35,800	$59,300
161	Restaurant & Food Service Management	$38,400	$59,200
162	Dietetics	$44,000	$59,100
163	Sports Management	$38,000	$58,900
164	Criminal Justice	$35,900	$58,800
165	Behavioral Science	$38,400	$58,700
166	Animal Science	$35,100	$58,500
167	Graphic Communication	$39,500	$58,100
167	Anthropology	$37,300	$58,100
169	Graphic Design	$38,400	$57,800
170	Art & Design	$36,800	$57,700
170	Exercise & Sports Science	$36,000	$57,700
170	Art	$37,600	$57,700
173	Fine Arts	$38,500	$57,600
174	Music Teacher Education	$33,300	$57,500
175	Health Care Management	$43,400	$57,400
175	Physical Education Teaching	$36,300	$57,400
177	Spanish Language	$37,600	$57,200
178	Social Science	$39,700	$57,000
179	Business & Healthcare Management	$40,000	$56,600
179	Interdisciplinary Studies (IS)	$38,400	$56,600
181	Nutrition	$41,700	$56,400
181	Public Health (PH)	$38,300	$56,400
183	Music	$37,500	$55,400
184	Culinary Arts & Culinary Management	$33,900	$55,300
185	Paralegal Studies	$35,100	$55,200
186	General Studies	$36,700	$54,600
186	Education	$38,100	$54,600
188	Photography	$37,500	$54,300
189	Studio Art	$36,000	$54,000
190	Exercise Science	$34,400	$53,400
191	Theology	$36,800	$51,600
192	Culinary Arts	$31,900	$50,800
193	Biblical Studies	$34,900	$48,500
194	Human Development	$36,900	$48,300
195	Horticulture	$35,200	$47,700
196	Recreation & Leisure Studies	$35,800	$47,100
197	Therapeutic Recreation	$34,500	$46,900
198	Special Education	$34,500	$46,800
199	Social Work (SW)	$32,800	$46,600
200	Pastoral Ministry	$36,300	$46,000
201	Athletic Training	$35,000	$45,900
202	Elementary Education	$33,600	$45,500
203	Human Services (HS)	$33,800	$41,300
204	Early Childhood & Elementary Education	$32,300	$40,400
205	Child & Family Studies	$31,200	$38,600
206	Early Childhood Education	$29,700	$38,000
207	Child Development	$32,200	$36,400

Did you know that what you study in college has an even bigger impact on your future salary than where you study it? PayScale's list of top college majors by salary can help you project your future earnings based on what you want to study in college or give you the information you need to choose one of the 207 majors listed above.

In terms of pure earning potential, engineering majors reign supreme. That isn't surprising - our current economy has created a great need for skilled engineers and rewards them handsomely, especiallypetroleum engineering majors, who earn a median early career salary of $102,300 and a median mid-career salary of $176,300. To put things in perspective, compare those stats to the second-highest earners on our list. Chemical engineering majors have the second-highest early career salary at $69,600, and actuarial mathematics majors have the second-highest mid-career salary at $119,600.

For the most part, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) majors dominate the list of top-earning college majors, but that doesn't mean you can't make a good living if you aren't a computer whiz or future electrical engineer. Humanities majors can make a solid living, especially when we compare mid-career salaries. Philosophy majors have the highest mid-career salaries amongst the humanities majors - $84,000 after 10 years of experience. The critical thinking skills associated with humanities majors likeglobal and international studies, English language and literature and history can lead to a lucrative career, but it may take more time for those graduates to settle into a career than somebody with a technical degree.

The lowest-paying majors have to do with education and child development. It's not to say that the skills that child development majors learn aren't inherently valuable - taking care of and educating young children is a pretty basic societal need - but they aren't skills that we pay a lot for. As a result, child development majors only earn a median mid-career salary of $36,400.