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null - Every year, millions of Americans go to college and declare their majors – but some degrees may offer a greater return on investment than others.
Bankrate analyzed the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data and ranked 152 bachelor’s degrees based on median annual income, unemployment rate and the percentage of workers with an advanced degree.
The company found that not all college degrees are created equally.
STEM degrees report higher salaries
According to the data, STEM bachelor’s degrees were most often associated with steady employment and a solid income.
Electrical engineering took the No. 1 spot this year on the ranking with a median annual salary of $115,000 and an unemployment rate of 1.9 percent. It has the highest median salary of all the majors Bankrate analyzed.
Nearly 48% of electrical engineering graduates earned advanced degrees, which was lower than that of grads with other high-earning degrees such as engineering mechanics, physics and science, and pharmacy. This suggests that more than half of electrical engineering graduates have been working in jobs that don’t require advanced degrees.
Students throw their mortarboards in the air during their graduation ceremony. (Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, computer engineering was the second-most valuable major, followed by petroleum engineering. Workers who earned bachelor’s degrees in computer engineering and petroleum engineering had median incomes of $112,000 and $100,000 per year, respectively.
"Picking a major has a lot to do with money, but it isn't just about money," Tatiana Velasco, a senior research associate at Community College Research Center, told Bankrate. "In order to get the return for your degree, you have to make sure that you are choosing a field and a program that aligns with your competitive advantage."
10 most valuable college majors
- Electrical engineering, $115K median salary
- Computer engineering, $112K median salary
- Petroleum engineering, $100K median salary
- Aerospace engineering, $105K median salary
- Materials science, $100K median salary
- Mechanical engineering, $100K median salary
- Electrical engineering technology, $100K median salary
- Engineering, mechanics, physics, and science, $100K median salary
- Chemical engineering, $100K median salary
- Actuarial science, $95K median salary
Arts and humanities majors are the least valuable
Studio arts ranked as the least valuable with a median annual salary of $40,000 and an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent.
Studio arts landed last place in Bankrate’s ranking, mainly due to the median annual income.
Drama and theater arts and visual and performing arts also ranked poorly due to lower median salaries and higher unemployment rates. These majors had unemployment rates of 4.9 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.
The median income for workers with drama and theater arts degrees was $44,000 per year, while workers with visual and performing arts degrees brought home a median annual income of $40,000 in 2022.
The data for bachelor's degrees in liberal arts and more general fields tend to show lower earnings, but there's a lot of complexity to that. These may be paths that require more time and investment for you to see the economic benefits.
"The data for bachelor's degrees in liberal arts and more general fields tend to show lower earnings, but there's a lot of complexity to that," Velasco continued. "These may be paths that require more time and investment for you to see the economic benefits."
The 10 least valuable college majors are:
- Studio arts, $40K median salary
- Drama and theater arts, $44K median salary
- Visual and performing arts, $40K median salary
- Film, video and photographic arts, $46K median salary
- Misc. fine arts, $45K median salary
- Clinical psychology, $45.5K median salary
- Communication technologies, $50K median salary
- Library science, $48K median salary
- Fine arts, $45K median salary
- Other foreign languages (Excludes common foreign languages including French, German and Latin), $53K median salary