College is one of the largest investments many people make, and a student’s field of study can shape its long-term financial return.
Which Majors Earn the Most by Mid-Career?
The chart below, via Visual Capitalist's Srijaa Chatterjee, ranks college majors by median mid-career wage.
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York compares median wages across dozens of college majors for workers ages 35 to 45.
Engineering and technical disciplines dominate the upper end of the ranking. Alongside the three leading majors, electrical engineering pays a median of $123,000, while computer science, construction services, and mechanical engineering each reach $120,000.
Economics, finance, and business analytics are among the highest-ranking fields outside engineering and computer science, with median wages of $115,000, $112,000, and $109,000, respectively. At the other end of the ranking, several education-focused majors have median earnings between $52,000 and $62,000.
These differences can compound substantially over time. Even a gap of tens of thousands of dollars per year can translate into significantly different lifetime earnings, savings, and investment opportunities.
How Much Does Your Major Matter?
The spread between the highest- and lowest-paying majors exceeds $80,000 annually, suggesting that field of study can have a substantial influence on long-term earnings. While this ranking focuses on workers in their m
