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 typically requiring master's degree
Highest median pay first. Showing 40 of 40. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse anesthetists | Master's degree | $223,210 | 2,700 | +8.6% |
| Computer and information research scientists | Master's degree | $140,910 | 3,200 | +19.7% |
| Political scientists | Master's degree | $139,380 | 500 | -3.1% |
| Physician assistants | Master's degree | $133,260 | 12,000 | +20.4% |
| Nurse practitioners | Master's degree | $129,210 | 29,500 | +40.1% |
| Nurse midwives | Master's degree | $128,790 | 500 | +11.1% |
| Mathematicians | Master's degree | $121,680 | 100 | -0.7% |
| Psychologists, all other | Master's degree | $117,580 | 3,900 | +4.3% |
| Economists | Master's degree | $115,440 | 900 | +1.2% |
| Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other | Master's degree | $113,730 | 2,400 | +2% |
| Industrial-organizational psychologists | Master's degree | $109,840 | 400 | +6.3% |
| Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary | Master's degree | $104,070 | 20,800 | -1.5% |
| Education administrators, postsecondary | Master's degree | $103,960 | 15,100 | +1.7% |
| Statisticians | Master's degree | $103,300 | 2,000 | +8.5% |
| Sociologists | Master's degree | $101,690 | 300 | +3.6% |
| Genetic counselors | Master's degree | $98,910 | 300 | +9.3% |
| Occupational therapists | Master's degree | $98,340 | 10,200 | +13.8% |
| Speech-language pathologists | Master's degree | $95,410 | 13,300 | +15% |
| School psychologists | Master's degree | $86,930 | 3,800 | +0.7% |
| Epidemiologists | Master's degree | $83,980 | 800 | +16.2% |
| Urban and regional planners | Master's degree | $83,720 | 3,400 | +3.4% |
| Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary | Master's degree | $80,190 | 9,000 | +1.7% |
| Orthotists and prosthetists | Master's degree | $78,310 | 900 | +13.3% |
| Acupuncturists | Master's degree | $78,140 | 900 | +6.8% |
| Instructional coordinators | Master's degree | $74,720 | 21,900 | +1.3% |
| Historians | Master's degree | $74,050 | 300 | +2.2% |
| Healthcare social workers | Master's degree | $68,090 | 18,400 | +7.7% |
| Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors | Master's degree | $65,140 | 31,000 | +3.5% |
| Anthropologists and archeologists | Master's degree | $64,910 | 800 | +3.7% |
| Librarians and media collections specialists | Master's degree | $64,320 | 13,500 | +1.7% |
| Marriage and family therapists | Master's degree | $63,780 | 7,700 | +12.6% |
| Survey researchers | Master's degree | $63,380 | 700 | -5.2% |
| Curators | Master's degree | $61,770 | 1,800 | +7% |
| Archivists | Master's degree | $61,570 | 1,100 | +3.8% |
| Athletic trainers | Master's degree | $60,250 | 2,400 | +11.1% |
| Mental health and substance abuse social workers | Master's degree | $60,060 | 13,500 | +9.7% |
| Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors | Master's degree | $59,190 | 48,300 | +16.8% |
| Farm and home management educators | Master's degree | $58,120 | 1,100 | -2.5% |
| Counselors, all other | Master's degree | $49,830 | 7,400 | +12.6% |
| Rehabilitation counselors | Master's degree | $46,110 | 10,000 | +1.4% |
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