Salary by Education Level in the U.S. 💰

What We’re Showing

This chart shows the median annual salary by educational level in the U.S. for full-time wage and salary workers over the age of 25.

The data is for 2024 and is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Higher Education, Higher Earnings

The data shows that earnings increase with higher levels of education.

At the top end, professional degree holders in the U.S. have a median annual salary of $122.9K, closely followed by doctoral degree holders at $118.5K.

Earnings drop off significantly from there, with master's degree holders making nearly $23K less than those with doctoral degrees at $95.7K.

A similarly big difference is between those with a bachelor's degree and those without. Having a bachelor's degree sees a median salary of $80.2K, while just an associate degree has a median salary of $57.2K.