A major can lead to high pay without offering a broad job market. Another may produce modest salaries but keep a large share of degree holders working. Looking at employment and earnings together gives a more useful picture than either number alone.
DegreeVerdict analyzed the 2024 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample. The table covers adults age 25–64 with a bachelor’s degree or higher and groups them by the first field of their bachelor’s degree.
What the employment rate means
The employment rate is the number of employed adults divided by the adult population represented for that field. The unemployment rate uses a different denominator: it divides unemployed people who are actively looking for work by the civilian labor force.
Those measures are not opposites. A person can be employed, unemployed and looking for work, or outside the labor force. That is why the table reports both the employment and unemployment rates.
How to read the results
Start with fields you would seriously consider, then compare three signals:
- Employment shows how broadly degree holders participate in work.
- Unemployment shows difficulty finding work among people actively participating in the labor force.
- Median annual wages show pay among full-time, year-round workers in the same field-of-degree population.
The weighted population estimate matters too. A small specialist field and a major with millions of degree holders do not provide the same evidence base.
Employment does not mean working in the field studied
The ACS records whether someone works, not whether the job matches the degree. A political science graduate in corporate sales and a biology graduate in healthcare consulting both count as employed.
This makes the measure broader than a college placement rate. It does not reveal how quickly a graduate found work, whether the position requires a degree, or how closely the occupation matches the curriculum.
Why earnings belong beside employment
A high employment rate does not automatically make a major a strong financial choice. Some fields connect reliably to work but offer lower pay. Others show higher wages but a narrower or more volatile employment market.
College choice also matters. DegreeVerdict’s major profiles compare year-4 earnings and federal debt across colleges offering the same field and credential. The ACS figures on this page describe national labor outcomes across adults of many ages, employers and experience levels.
Graduate school can change the picture
The table shows the share of adults in each field who also hold a graduate degree. That context is important for majors such as psychology, biology and education, where professional advancement may depend on additional schooling.
A high graduate-degree share does not prove that graduate school caused better employment. It does indicate that the bachelor’s degree may be only one part of the typical education path.
Limits of this comparison
Census field-of-degree codes are not identical to the Department of Education’s program codes. DegreeVerdict keeps the Census labels on this analysis rather than forcing uncertain matches into college program pages.
The results also describe adults age 25–64, not only recent graduates. Career experience, location and later education all affect employment and wages. Survey estimates carry sampling uncertainty, so small differences between fields should not be treated as decisive.
The DegreeVerdict verdict
Employment rate is a useful reality check, but it is not a verdict on its own. Use it to narrow a serious shortlist, then compare college-specific cost, debt, completion and graduate earnings for the exact programs you are considering.
Keep exploring on DegreeVerdict
- Compare earnings and debt by major
- Explore degrees linked to fast-growing careers
- See majors linked to the most job openings
- Compare colleges side by side
Sources and methodology
DegreeVerdict uses the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 ACS 1-year PUMS. The analysis includes adults age 25–64 with a bachelor’s degree or higher and a reported first bachelor’s field, applies person weights, and publishes fields meeting the minimum population screen. Wages describe full-time, year-round workers. Employment, unemployment and graduate-degree share retain their separate Census-based definitions.