The 20 highest-paying college majors in the US

Madison HoffMay 19, 2020, 21:10 IST

Aerospace engineering is one of the highest-paying majors.Damian Dovarganes/AP

If you're considering what to study in college, the following majors all earn on average over $121,000 annually.
Using Census data, we ranked the majors that pay the most for Americans out of college.
The majority of the 20 highest-paying majors are in engineering or science, such as molecular biology and chemical engineering.

Americans who studied science or engineering in college tend to earn a large annual income.

To find the highest-paying college majors, Business Insider used individual-level data from the US Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey compiled by the Minnesota Population Center's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series program.

The American Community Survey is a program in which the US Census Bureau asks millions of Americans each year questions about their economic, social, demographic, and housing situation. Some of the topics on the survey include educational attainment and income.

Using the listed field of study among respondents who graduated from college and annual total income data, we found the majors with the highest average total personal income among employed Americans with at least a bachelor's degree in that field. This analysis just focuses on a person's major and doesn't take into account other factors that might influence a person's income, like age or what specific occupation or industry they work in.

Of the 20 majors with the highest average annual total income, 17 are in science, engineering, or medical fields. These majors all earn over $121,000.

The following are the 20 college majors with the highest average incomes, along with how many people have degrees in that field, in order of increasing pay:

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20. Physics majors had an average annual total income of $121,500, and 288,100 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Monty Rakusen/Getty Images

19. Molecular biology majors had an average annual total income of $122,000, and 88,800 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

18. Aerospace engineering majors had an average annual total income of $122,200, and 118,400 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Engineers work on the Mars rover Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. Jae C. Hong/AP

17. Mathematics and computer science majors had an average annual total income of $122,700, and 17,400 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

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16. Metallurgical engineering majors had an average annual total income of $123,700, and 15,100 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Stock image/Shutterstock

15. Biochemical sciences majors had an average annual total income of $125,800, and 223,000 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Amilcar Orfali/Getty Images

14. Mining and mineral engineering majors had an average annual total income of $125,800, and 14,500 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

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13. Chemical engineering majors had an average annual total income of $126,000, and 317,100 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Tomas Rodriguez/Getty Images

12. Chemistry majors had an average annual total income of $126,200, and 584,800 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Hinterhaus Productions/Getty Images

11. Electrical engineering majors had an average annual total income of $127,200, and 1,065,900 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Hinterhaus Productions/Getty Images

10. Naval architecture and marine engineering majors had an average annual total income of $127,900, and 19,100 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

US Navy/Getty

9. Engineering mechanics, physics, and science majors had an average annual total income of $129,100, and 33,900 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Tom Werner/Getty Images

8. Engineering and industrial management majors had an average annual total income of $129,330, and 42,600 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Worldsteel/Getty

7. Actuarial science majors had an average annual total income of $129,400, and 20,800 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Mr. Whiskey/Shutterstock

6. Applied mathematics majors had an average annual total income of $130,313, and 40,400 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Ariel Skelley/Getty Images

5. Economics majors had an average annual total income of $133,200, and 1,111,900 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Danny M. Leipziger, center, teaches a macro economics class at George Washington University in Washington in Feb. 15, 2013. Alex Brandon/AP

4. Pharmacology majors had an average annual total income of $135,672, and 12,800 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Reuters/Ina Fassbender

3. Zoology majors had an average annual total income of $141,800, and 109,700 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

FILE - In this March 23, 2012, file photo, Ned S. Gilmore, collections manager of vertebrate zoology, shows a hellbender salamander in the collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania is getting an official amphibian, a nocturnal salamander that can grow to be more than two feet long. The House voted 191-6 on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, to grant the honor to the Eastern hellbender, and Gov. Tom Wolf's office said he plans to sign it. AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Associated Press

2. Petroleum engineering majors had an average annual total income of $156,089, and 26,800 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Larisa Rudenko/Shutterstock

1. Health and medical preparatory majors had an average annual total income of $165,400, and 100,400 have at least a bachelor's degree in this field.

Terry Vine/Getty Images

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