Want To Earn One Of The Biggest Paychecks Straight Out Of A US College? These Majors Lead The Pack

2026-02-21 03:07:31

(MENAFN- Live Mint) As technology continues to evolve, one field seems to have managed to stay consistently in demand: Engineering, thanks to strong demand for technical skills. Engineering majors receive some of the highest pay packages right after college, and they are still near the top years later.

According to the latest findings from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the highest-paying majors for employees aged between 22 to 27 are computer engineering, computer science and chemical engineering.

The data is based on 2024 US Census figures, the most recent update available. The analysis breaks down annual salaries of college graduates by major, showing how much full-time workers in the United States earn when their highest level of education is a bachelor's degree.

How much do recent engineering graduates make annually?

Recent graduates in engineering typically make about $85,000 or more early in their careers. That is far higher than typical American income of just over $45,000, according to data from the US Census Bureau.

Though the profession's median salary seems high, engineering accounts for only 6% of bachelor's degrees awarded nationwide. This figure represents a relatively small share of all college graduates, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics cited by CNBC.

Top 20 majors with highest salaries

Here is a list of top 20 majors that draw the highest salaries for workers ages 22 to 27:

Computer engineering: $90,000

Computer science: $87,000

Chemical engineering: $85,000

Aerospace engineering: $85,000

Industrial engineering: $83,000

Electrical engineering: $82,000

Mechanical engineering: $80,000

Construction services: $75,000

Civil engineering: $75,000

General engineering: $75,000

Miscellaneous engineering: $75,000

Economics: $72,000

Business analytics: $72,000

Finance: $70,000

Mathematics: $70,000

Nursing: $70,000

Mathematics: $70,000

Finance: $70,000

Accounting: $68,000

Physics: $67,000

While some experts warn that artificial intelligence could automate parts of engineering work, the broader outlook for the profession remains strong. AI is increasingly reshaping how certain technical tasks are performed, allowing engineers to work more efficiently.

This trend can already be witnessed in some major companies. For example, on its latest earnings call, Spotify revealed that some of its best engineers have not written a single line of code in months because they are now supervising an internal AI tool called Honk to generate and deploy software automatically.

Similarly, Airbnb described during its most recent earnings call how AI is being deeply integrated into its customer-support systems, with plans to expand the technology globally.

However, rather than eliminating jobs altogether, many experts say AI is more likely to change the nature of the work, shifting engineers toward higher-level problem-solving, oversight, and system design. In fact, employment across several engineering disciplines is still projected to grow over the next decade, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Mid-career engineers draw a big paycheque

Engineering majors also pay well as an employee gains more experience in the field. Among graduates aged between 35 to 45, every engineering major reports a median pay of at least $100,000, according to the New York Fed data.

In contrast, education and arts majors tend to earn significantly less overall. By ages 35 to 45, six fields of education majors report median earnings below $60,000, placing them among the lower-paid fields in the study.

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