OBSERVED EARNINGS · LIKE-FOR-LIKE CATEGORIESHighest-paying majors
National median earnings four years after completion, keeping field and credential level visible.
Social & Behavioral Sciences22 ranked field-and-credential categories with at least 10 earnings observations
1EconomicsBachelor's Degree · 390 programs$79,4682International Relations and National Security StudiesBachelor's Degree · 128 programs$66,3083Political Science and GovernmentBachelor's Degree · 609 programs$61,9294Urban Studies/AffairsBachelor's Degree · 31 programs$59,5965Apparel and TextilesBachelor's Degree · 60 programs$58,0466Geography and CartographyBachelor's Degree · 130 programs$57,7517Area StudiesBachelor's Degree · 84 programs$57,2088Research and Experimental PsychologyBachelor's Degree · 111 programs$56,8309Foods, Nutrition, and Related ServicesBachelor's Degree · 51 programs$55,65910CriminologyBachelor's Degree · 126 programs$55,62111Social Sciences, OtherBachelor's Degree · 40 programs$54,88812Family and Consumer Economics and Related StudiesBachelor's Degree · 19 programs$53,05513Housing and Human EnvironmentsBachelor's Degree · 12 programs$52,86114Social Sciences, GeneralBachelor's Degree · 95 programs$52,09515SociologyBachelor's Degree · 509 programs$52,09416Clinical, Counseling and Applied PsychologyBachelor's Degree · 77 programs$51,72717Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group StudiesBachelor's Degree · 120 programs$51,56518Psychology, OtherBachelor's Degree · 13 programs$50,43019Psychology, GeneralBachelor's Degree · 1,139 programs$49,96020Human Development, Family Studies, and Related ServicesBachelor's Degree · 185 programs$46,95421Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, GeneralBachelor's Degree · 50 programs$46,13622AnthropologyBachelor's Degree · 208 programs$45,920Field families are reproducible groupings of federal two-digit CIP subject codes. Rankings require at least 10 programs with reported year-4 earnings; missing or suppressed values are not replaced with zero.