Highest-Paying Jobs With a Bachelor's Degree
Answer
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers ($232,140), Chief Executives ($213,990), Computer and Information Systems Managers ($175,140) top this list. Airline pilots lead, but they also need an FAA airline transport pilot certificate and long flight experience. Management jobs fill most of the rest, and BLS notes that most of them also require several years of work experience in the field. Among jobs open to new graduates, engineering and computer occupations pay the most.
How this ranking works
Includes: BLS typical entry education is a bachelor's degree; at least 10,000 US jobs. Ranked by: Median annual wage. Data: BLS OEWS, May 2025; typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Occupations without a published median and the residual “all other” categories are left out. Methodology
| 1 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $232,140 | — | 103,560 | Bachelor's degree | +8.3% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Chief Executives | $213,990 | $102.88 | 204,350 | Bachelor's degree | +3.2% |
| 3 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $175,140 | $84.20 | 670,570 | Bachelor's degree | +15.8% |
| 4 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $171,270 | $82.34 | 220,260 | Bachelor's degree | +5.5% |
| 5 | Natural Sciences Managers | $167,220 | $80.39 | 108,690 | Bachelor's degree | +8.2% |
| 6 | Marketing Managers | $166,790 | $80.19 | 395,240 | Bachelor's degree | +6.9% |
| 7 | Financial Managers | $166,570 | $80.08 | 841,710 | Bachelor's degree | +9.7% |
| 8 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $161,740 | $77.76 | 76,660 | Bachelor's degree | +9.1% |
| 9 | Human Resources Managers | $149,280 | $71.77 | 220,660 | Bachelor's degree | +5.5% |
| 10 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $149,230 | $71.75 | 22,940 | Bachelor's degree | +1.1% |
| 11 | Sales Managers | $148,270 | $71.28 | 637,080 | Bachelor's degree | +4.5% |
| 12 | Purchasing Managers | $148,080 | $71.19 | 84,320 | Bachelor's degree | +4.0% |
| 13 | Public Relations Managers | $146,910 | $70.63 | 74,850 | Bachelor's degree | +5.7% |
| 14 | Petroleum Engineers | $144,910 | $69.67 | 18,060 | Bachelor's degree | +2.0% |
| 15 | Database Architects | $139,500 | $67.07 | 67,140 | Bachelor's degree | +9.4% |
| 16 | Software Developers | $135,980 | $65.38 | 1,687,890 | Bachelor's degree | +10.2% |
| 17 | Aerospace Engineers | $134,960 | $64.89 | 67,710 | Bachelor's degree | +8.3% |
| 18 | Computer Network Architects | $134,050 | $64.45 | 179,740 | Bachelor's degree | +7.7% |
| 19 | Nuclear Engineers | $133,970 | $64.41 | 15,280 | Bachelor's degree | +0.4% |
| 20 | Advertising and Promotions Managers | $133,660 | $64.26 | 21,470 | Bachelor's degree | −3.7% |
| 21 | Training and Development Managers | $133,000 | $63.94 | 48,050 | Bachelor's degree | +6.4% |
| 22 | Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $130,220 | $62.60 | 96,900 | Bachelor's degree | +3.7% |
| 23 | Actuaries | $130,000 | $62.50 | 26,670 | Bachelor's degree | +9.2% |
| 24 | Information Security Analysts | $129,180 | $62.11 | 190,650 | Bachelor's degree | +21.0% |
| 25 | Industrial Production Managers | $126,060 | $60.61 | 246,250 | Bachelor's degree | +2.6% |
| 26 | Fundraising Managers | $125,470 | $60.32 | 38,810 | Bachelor's degree | +5.4% |
| 27 | Chemical Engineers | $125,040 | $60.12 | 21,070 | Bachelor's degree | +4.7% |
| 28 | Sales Engineers | $124,900 | $60.05 | 51,790 | Bachelor's degree | +2.8% |
| 29 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $123,860 | $59.55 | 597,080 | Bachelor's degree | +24.2% |
| 30 | Electrical Engineers | $120,630 | $58.00 | 198,750 | Bachelor's degree | +9.9% |
| 31 | Data Scientists | $120,230 | $57.80 | 262,440 | Bachelor's degree | +34.6% |
| 32 | Financial Risk Specialists | $117,330 | $56.41 | 63,850 | Bachelor's degree | +7.4% |
| 33 | Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors | $115,160 | $55.36 | 21,450 | Bachelor's degree | +5.4% |
| 34 | Construction Managers | $114,990 | $55.28 | 380,360 | Bachelor's degree | +9.1% |
| 35 | Art Directors | $114,850 | $55.22 | 53,070 | Bachelor's degree | +4.2% |
| 36 | Administrative Services Managers | $114,130 | $54.87 | 263,960 | Bachelor's degree | +5.2% |
| 37 | Materials Engineers | $112,860 | $54.26 | 22,770 | Bachelor's degree | +7.5% |
| 38 | Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers | $109,370 | $52.58 | 23,480 | Bachelor's degree | +7.6% |
| 39 | Environmental Engineers | $107,110 | $51.50 | 38,340 | Bachelor's degree | +6.3% |
| 40 | Facilities Managers | $106,660 | $51.28 | 156,180 | Bachelor's degree | +4.6% |
BLS OEWS, May 2025, national cross-industry estimates; projections and typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Occupation names are the official BLS titles; linked names have a full pay and how-to-become page on this site.