STEM Topic

STEM Majors

What STEM majors earn on the federal data, why the category leads on pay, the spread within it, and which fields pair top salaries with fast job growth.

By US College Data · Last updated June 2026

By the Numbers

$77,529 Average earnings across STEM majors

7 Fields of study in this category

$93,843 Top-paying field: Engineering Tech

The highest-paying STEM majors

Median earnings four years after graduation, nationally

Engineering Tech$93,843

Computer Science$92,374

Engineering$86,517

Mathematics$69,562

Science Tech$68,416

Architecture$66,874

STEM Majors by Earnings Median earnings four years out and projected 10-year job growth, by field

#	Major	Median earnings	Job growth	Colleges
1	Engineering Tech	$93,843	+1.9%	1,610
2	Computer Science	$92,374	+10%	2,632
3	Engineering	$86,517	+4%	1,297
4	Mathematics	$69,562	+10.5%	1,555
5	Science Tech	$68,416	-0.2%	287
6	Architecture	$66,874	+3.1%	386
7	Physical Sciences	$65,120	+4%	1,522

Why STEM Leads on Pay

STEM is the highest-paying major category, and it is not close. Its seven fields average about 77,500 dollars four years after graduation, well ahead of every other category. The reason is demand: employers compete for graduates who can build, analyze, and engineer, and that competition shows up in starting salaries. Engineering technology tops the field at about 94,000 dollars, with computer science just behind near 92,000 and engineering around 87,000. What makes STEM remarkable is not just its ceiling but its floor: even its lowest-paying field out-earns the average major in most other categories.

The Spread Within STEM

STEM is not monolithic, and the field you choose still matters. Earnings run from about 94,000 dollars in engineering technology down to roughly 65,000 in the physical sciences, a meaningful gap of nearly 30,000 a year. Applied and technology-focused fields tend to start higher than the pure sciences, which often depend on graduate training to reach their full earning power. So while picking STEM raises your floor, picking the right STEM field still shapes your ceiling. Choose the specific discipline for genuine interest, because the coursework is demanding enough that motivation matters as much as the salary table.

High Pay and High Growth Together

The strongest case for STEM is that a few of its fields offer both high pay and fast growth, a combination that is rare elsewhere. Computer science and mathematics each pair earnings near the top of all majors with projected job growth around 10 percent over the coming decade. That means graduates are not just well paid today but entering fields that are expanding, which lowers the risk of the whole bet. For a student weighing demanding coursework against long-term security, that pairing of pay and growth is the clearest reason STEM sits at the top of the earnings data.

The Findings on This Topic

Original data analyses built from the same federal sources. Rankings, outliers, and patterns, no opinions.

STEM Is Not One Thing: The Pay Gap Within STEM

Across 88 STEM programs the top one out-earns the bottom by $65,000 a year. Operations research pays $122,531; environmental design pays $57,461.
- STEM earnings
- Engineering pay
- Computer science
- Program earnings
- Major choice
Does Engineering Tech Out-Earn Engineering? The Data Says No

A popular claim holds that the applied engineering-tech degree pays more than the theoretical one. Across every program, engineering wins by about $10,000.
- Engineering tech
- Engineering
- Program earnings
- Applied degree
- Technician careers
The Sweet Spot: Majors With High Pay and High Growth

Only 12 of 38 college majors clear both an above-median salary and above-median job growth. Two of them, math and computer science, stand alone with double-digit growth.
- Job growth
- Major earnings
- Computer science
- Mathematics
- STEM majors
All 38 Majors, Ranked by What Graduates Earn

The highest-earning college major out-pays the lowest by a factor of two and a half. The full ranking of all 38 fields by median graduate earnings, with job growth alongside.
- Major earnings
- Highest paying majors
- Job growth
- STEM
- Field of study
The Highest-Paying Degrees in America, by Program

At the program level, federal data ranks specific fields of study by pay. Law leads at $142,745, more than double the typical program, and engineering takes 7 of the top 15 spots.
- Program earnings
- Highest-paying degrees
- Engineering pay
- Law school earnings
- CIP programs
The Best Major Out-Earns the Worst by 2.5 to 1

The top-paying major returns $93,843 a decade out. The bottom returns $36,949. The gap is 2.5x, and the two ends share almost nothing in common.
- Major earnings
- Engineering tech
- Library science
- Earnings gap
- Field of study

Tools for This Topic

Career Path Explorer Start with a career, find the majors and colleges that lead there. College ROI Calculator See whether a degree pays off, on real earnings and net-price data.

What This Means for You

STEM offers the rare combination of high pay and strong demand, so if the coursework fits you it is among the safest bets in higher education. Choose the specific field for interest, since the spread within STEM is real, but the category floor is unusually high.

Career Path Explorer →

Questions you might still have

Are STEM majors worth it?

On the earnings data, yes. STEM is the highest-paying category, averaging about 77,500 dollars four years out, and even its lower-paying fields out-earn most majors elsewhere. The main caveat is fit: the coursework is demanding, so genuine interest matters.

Which STEM major pays the most?

Engineering technology leads at about 94,000 dollars four years out, with computer science close behind near 92,000. Engineering follows around 87,000. The gap between the top and bottom STEM fields is real but the whole category pays well.

Do STEM majors have good job growth?

Several do. Computer science and mathematics both pair top-tier pay with roughly 10 percent projected job growth, among the strongest combinations of pay and demand in any category.

What is the lowest-paying STEM major?

Physical sciences sits at the lower end of STEM, around 65,000 dollars four years out. That is still higher than the average for most other categories, which is what makes STEM's floor so notable.

Is computer science a good major?

By the numbers, it is one of the best: about 92,000 dollars four years out paired with roughly 10 percent job growth. Few fields combine pay and demand as strongly, though the coursework and competition are demanding.

Do you need to be a genius for STEM?

No, but the coursework is rigorous and builds on itself, so consistent effort and genuine interest matter more than raw talent. Students who enjoy problem-solving and stick with the math sequence tend to do well.