16 highest-paying college majors, 5 years after graduation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is five years after graduation. Further out it is the doctors who are making bank.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm

Doctors (and lawyers) need more advanced education, which means spending more money on education in order to make those big bucks.

Engineers don't need to do that in order to make big bucks.

Most engineers make medium-sized bucks at best, the floor is higher and the ceiling generally lower. Medicine has a higher floor and ceiling (much higher for a few outliers). Lawyers have a lower floor but a much higher ceiling. I have a number of peers from law school making 8 figures.

Jeff Bezos, Elon MusK, Zerkuburg, Bill Gates, Zensen Huang, etc. are all engineer stem types. ceilings are way much higher in Tech

Those are very few compared to the number of big law partners and plastic surgeons and hedge fund managers making millions. Sure--those techhies are making billions---but not as many making millions like the other professions I listed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is five years after graduation. Further out it is the doctors who are making bank.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm

Doctors (and lawyers) need more advanced education, which means spending more money on education in order to make those big bucks.

Engineers don't need to do that in order to make big bucks.

Most engineers make medium-sized bucks at best, the floor is higher and the ceiling generally lower. Medicine has a higher floor and ceiling (much higher for a few outliers). Lawyers have a lower floor but a much higher ceiling. I have a number of peers from law school making 8 figures.

Jeff Bezos, Elon MusK, Zerkuburg, Bill Gates, Zensen Huang, etc. are all engineer stem types. ceilings are way much higher in Tech

Those are very few compared to the number of big law partners and plastic surgeons and hedge fund managers making millions. Sure--those techhies are making billions---but not as many making millions like the other professions I listed.

Yeah--that tech example is like your average high basketball player saying--well LeBron and Jordan and Curry make huge cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is five years after graduation. Further out it is the doctors who are making bank.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm

Doctors (and lawyers) need more advanced education, which means spending more money on education in order to make those big bucks.

Engineers don't need to do that in order to make big bucks.

+1

Engineers start their careers at age 22. A doctor spends 22-26 in Med school, paying $70K+ per year to attend (not earning $85-100K). They then spend 3-5+ years in residency earning $30-40K, maybe more maybe less. So they are 28-30+ before they start actually earning decent money. But they likely have $200K+ in loans as well as some debt from trying to live on $30-40K in residency.
Meanwhile an engineer has been working 40-55 hours/week, not 60-70+, earning $80-100K+ and starting their life and are around if they have already had kids.
Unless you are specializing in cardiology, anesthesiology, another high paying field, you will likely never come out ahead financially over an engineer. That engineer can move into management without an MBA (majority do just that, but some get the MBA). And then the potential is $250K+ A general doctor doesn't have much room to grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you share the link to the study. I’m pretty surprised accounting and actuaries aren’t there.

Would those fall under finance and economics?

Thinking the same. I know accountants who do very well mid career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you share the link to the study. I’m pretty surprised accounting and actuaries aren’t there.

Accounting is a solid choice, but not high-paying, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to see it by gender and race.

Women in Engineering do very well. Definitely encouraging my DD into that path if she is interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you share the link to the study. I’m pretty surprised accounting and actuaries aren’t there.

Or medicine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you share the link to the study. I’m pretty surprised accounting and actuaries aren’t there.

Accounting is a solid choice, but not high-paying, IMO.

It becomes high paying if you start up your firm.

[Anonymous]

Theater majors still employed in major between 35-45 are highest paid by far of all majors. I saw a chart once. Sure 90-95 percent of them are no longer working actors but the ones remaining are movie, TV and Broadway stars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is five years after graduation. Further out it is the doctors who are making bank.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm

Doctors (and lawyers) need more advanced education, which means spending more money on education in order to make those big bucks.

Engineers don't need to do that in order to make big bucks.

Most engineers make medium-sized bucks at best, the floor is higher and the ceiling generally lower. Medicine has a higher floor and ceiling (much higher for a few outliers). Lawyers have a lower floor but a much higher ceiling. I have a number of peers from law school making 8 figures.

Jeff Bezos, Elon MusK, Zerkuburg, Bill Gates, Zensen Huang, etc. are all engineer stem types. ceilings are way much higher in Tech

Those are very few compared to the number of big law partners and plastic surgeons and hedge fund managers making millions. Sure--those techhies are making billions---but not as many making millions like the other professions I listed.

There actually aren't that many BigLaw partners in their entirety. Maybe 20,000 - 30,000 people in the entire US? That is probably generous as I am including non-equity partners in this number.

Most hedge fund people have STEM backgrounds, so hard to really include hedge funds in this mix as you are likely studying one of the professions mentioned in this thread.

This whole thread is on median incomes, not what any outliers can make. The median income for lawyers across this country is $135,740. The median income for doctors is $223,410 though the BLS has statistics for many different kinds of physicians.

It is comical if you think there aren't more than 30,000 people working in tech who aren't making huge $$$s, whether in senior positions at tech companies or working for start-ups that became successes and their options are worth millions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated as a mechanical engineer 25 years ago, my starting salary was $58,000.

It's definitely strange that college graduate are not making much more a quarter century later. What's going on?

Even if you are making more, the increase cost of living would kill any gains. Actually, I believe we are worse off now.

Needless to say, that was the goal of STEM, STEM, STEM. Find more bodies, tamp down wages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is five years after graduation. Further out it is the doctors who are making bank.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm

Doctors (and lawyers) need more advanced education, which means spending more money on education in order to make those big bucks.

Engineers don't need to do that in order to make big bucks.

Most engineers make medium-sized bucks at best, the floor is higher and the ceiling generally lower. Medicine has a higher floor and ceiling (much higher for a few outliers). Lawyers have a lower floor but a much higher ceiling. I have a number of peers from law school making 8 figures.

Jeff Bezos, Elon MusK, Zerkuburg, Bill Gates, Zensen Huang, etc. are all engineer stem types. ceilings are way much higher in Tech

Total outliers and I'm not sure that you would still count them as practicing engineers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is five years after graduation. Further out it is the doctors who are making bank.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm

Doctors (and lawyers) need more advanced education, which means spending more money on education in order to make those big bucks.

Engineers don't need to do that in order to make big bucks.

Most engineers make medium-sized bucks at best, the floor is higher and the ceiling generally lower. Medicine has a higher floor and ceiling (much higher for a few outliers). Lawyers have a lower floor but a much higher ceiling. I have a number of peers from law school making 8 figures.

Jeff Bezos, Elon MusK, Zerkuburg, Bill Gates, Zensen Huang, etc. are all engineer stem types. ceilings are way much higher in Tech

Those are very few compared to the number of big law partners and plastic surgeons and hedge fund managers making millions. Sure--those techhies are making billions---but not as many making millions like the other professions I listed.

There actually aren't that many BigLaw partners in their entirety. Maybe 20,000 - 30,000 people in the entire US? That is probably generous as I am including non-equity partners in this number.

Most hedge fund people have STEM backgrounds, so hard to really include hedge funds in this mix as you are likely studying one of the professions mentioned in this thread.

This whole thread is on median incomes, not what any outliers can make. The median income for lawyers across this country is $135,740. The median income for doctors is $223,410 though the BLS has statistics for many different kinds of physicians.

It is comical if you think there aren't more than 30,000 people working in tech who aren't making huge $$$s, whether in senior positions at tech companies or working for start-ups that became successes and their options are worth millions.

There are relatively few big law partners at 8 figures (but most big law equity partners are 7 figure). The 8 figure plus lawyers are mostly plaintiff side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to see it by gender and race.

Women in Engineering do very well. Definitely encouraging my DD into that path if she is interested.

I’m a women engineer and I do well but my salary is definitely less than men.

Also when I graduated I was the only white female in my graduating class.

Things are changing.

But I am an Engineer so I’d like to see the data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds depressing. I was an art major and made $80k right after graduation. That was in 2002s dollars

You don't understand statistics, but then, you're an art major.

I'm work in statistics and I think PP does understand: you can't predict a single outcome from averages across such a broad category--especially one that does zero modeling of predictive factors and ignores important variabilities across institutions and important factors across time periods (e.g., what is the lifetime ROI). A better way to draw insight is that for any given person the profession that they are most likely to earn well in is the one where their skills and interests are the highest and that overlaps with an area that society is willing to pay. That is where an individual is likely to find their highest salary in an evolving career that will sustain over their lifetime. Much more sensible to introspect on that on some dumb averages about salary at 5 years that strips away all the predictive factors that will shape your individual outcome.

If you are really in stats, then you should understand what median income and this list means.