Pay by entry education
What jobs pay, by the education they typically require
79.4% of projected annual U.S. job openingsare in occupations where most people entering typically hold no bachelor's degree, about 15 million of 18.9 million openings a year. That is not an argument against a degree: it is the shape of the job market a college decision is being made against. Figures are BLS 2024 median wages and 2024–2034 projections across 832 occupations.
Openings and pay at each level of entry education
| Typical entry education | Annual openings | Share | Median pay | Occupations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No formal credential | 6,287,800 | 33.3% | $38,940 | 109 |
| High school diploma | 6,753,600 | 35.8% | $48,940 | 326 |
| Some college, no degree | 440,200 | 2.3% | $45,760 | 7 |
| Postsecondary certificate | 1,161,100 | 6.2% | $58,410 | 51 |
| Associate's degree | 332,300 | 1.8% | $64,915 | 48 |
| Bachelor's degree | 3,333,500 | 17.7% | $81,475 | 178 |
| Master's degree | 316,800 | 1.7% | $83,850 | 40 |
| Doctoral or professional degree | 236,300 | 1.3% | $95,800 | 73 |
“Median pay” is the median of the reported occupational medians at that level, not a wage for any individual. Occupations whose wage BLS does not publish are counted in the openings column and excluded from the pay column.
Occupations across every entry-education level
Highest median pay first. Showing 40 of 832. Typical entry education is what most people entering the occupation have, not a legal requirement and not a guarantee of entry; several of these also require an apprenticeship or a licence that this field does not capture.
| Occupation | Typical entry education | Median pay | Openings / yr | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family medicine physicians | Doctoral or professional degree | $238,380 | 3,300 | +2.7% |
| General internal medicine physicians | Doctoral or professional degree | $236,350 | 2,100 | +3.3% |
| Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers | Bachelor's degree | $226,600 | 11,700 | +3.9% |
| Dentists, all other specialists | Doctoral or professional degree | $225,770 | 200 | +0.3% |
| Nurse anesthetists | Master's degree | $223,210 | 2,700 | +8.6% |
| Pediatricians, general | Doctoral or professional degree | $210,130 | 1,200 | +0.8% |
| Chief executives | Bachelor's degree | $206,420 | 22,200 | +4.3% |
| Dentists, general | Doctoral or professional degree | $172,790 | 3,900 | +4.1% |
| Computer and information systems managers | Bachelor's degree | $171,200 | 55,600 | +15.2% |
| Architectural and engineering managers | Bachelor's degree | $167,740 | 14,500 | +3.8% |
| Physicists | Doctoral or professional degree | $166,290 | 1,700 | +4% |
| Financial managers | Bachelor's degree | $161,700 | 74,600 | +14.8% |
| Natural sciences managers | Bachelor's degree | $161,180 | 8,500 | +3.7% |
| Marketing managers | Bachelor's degree | $161,030 | 34,300 | +6.6% |
| Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates | Doctoral or professional degree | $156,210 | 900 | +2.5% |
| Computer hardware engineers | Bachelor's degree | $155,020 | 4,700 | +7.3% |
| Podiatrists | Doctoral or professional degree | $152,800 | 300 | +1.8% |
| Lawyers | Doctoral or professional degree | $151,160 | 31,500 | +4.1% |
| Air traffic controllers | Associate's degree | $144,580 | 2,200 | +1.2% |
| Petroleum engineers | Bachelor's degree | $141,280 | 1,200 | +1.3% |
| Computer and information research scientists | Master's degree | $140,910 | 3,200 | +19.7% |
| Compensation and benefits managers | Bachelor's degree | $140,360 | 1,500 | +0.2% |
| Human resources managers | Bachelor's degree | $140,030 | 17,900 | +5% |
| Purchasing managers | Bachelor's degree | $139,510 | 6,400 | +3.1% |
| Political scientists | Master's degree | $139,380 | 500 | -3.1% |
| Public relations managers | Bachelor's degree | $138,520 | 6,600 | +5% |
| Medical dosimetrists | Bachelor's degree | $138,110 | 200 | +3.5% |
| Sales managers | Bachelor's degree | $138,060 | 49,000 | +4.7% |
| Pharmacists | Doctoral or professional degree | $137,480 | 14,200 | +4.6% |
| Managers, all other | Bachelor's degree | $136,550 | 106,700 | +4.5% |
| Database architects | Bachelor's degree | $135,980 | 4,000 | +8.7% |
| Aerospace engineers | Bachelor's degree | $134,830 | 4,500 | +6.1% |
| Optometrists | Doctoral or professional degree | $134,830 | 2,400 | +8% |
| Physician assistants | Master's degree | $133,260 | 12,000 | +20.4% |
| Software developers | Bachelor's degree | $133,080 | 115,200 | +15.8% |
| Astronomers | Doctoral or professional degree | $132,170 | 100 | +2.2% |
| Computer network architects | Bachelor's degree | $130,390 | 11,200 | +11.9% |
| Nurse practitioners | Master's degree | $129,210 | 29,500 | +40.1% |
| Nurse midwives | Master's degree | $128,790 | 500 | +11.1% |
| Electronics engineers, except computer | Bachelor's degree | $127,590 | 5,700 | +6.2% |
How to read this
- “Typically requires” is a description, not a rule
- BLS records the education most workers entering an occupation have. Employers still set their own requirements, many of these roles need licensure or a multi-year apprenticeship, and holding more education than the typical entrant is common.
- Openings are not the same as pay
- The levels with the most openings are not the best paid. Both columns matter: a high median with few openings is a harder market to enter than the median alone suggests.
- These are national figures
- Wages vary substantially by state, metro, employer and experience, and none of this is an outcome for graduates of any particular institution or program.
Source, vintage, and limits
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Occupational projections and worker characteristics. Median wages are the 2024 estimates; employment projections cover 2024–2034. Snapshot taken 2026-06-14 across 832 detailed occupations. Pay figures are stated for 2024 rather than the current year, because that is the year BLS published them.
Limitations
- U.S. national figures only, wages and outlook vary by state, metro, employer, and experience.
- Median wage is the 2024 BLS estimate; projections are BLS model estimates for 2024–2034, not guarantees.
- Occupational data is national and is NOT an institution-specific or graduate outcome.
- Very high wages are capped by BLS and stored as null rather than a fabricated number.
Cite this page
CampusPin. “What jobs pay, by the education they typically require.” Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 wages, 2024–2034 projections. https://campuspin.com/careers/pay-by-education