College majors and their labor market outcomes
A number of websites offer information on the expected salary from specific college degrees. Surprisingly, the figures differ quite a bit across these websites, suggesting that most rely on small, unrepresentative samples. The best of these websites appears to be the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce whose primary data source is the Public-Use Microsample (PUMS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
The most recent ACS PUMS data contain almost 16 million observations, each representing a person sampled from the entire US population in the years 2010-2014. Sample weights allow extrapolation of these data to the entire population.
The latest published Georgetown reports do not use the most recent ACS PUMS data, and they do not answer the particular questions that I had, so what follows is my own examination of the data to gain some insight into college majors and subsequent earnings and occupations.
Wages and majors
Wages for the most popular majors
The data used for Figure 1, below, are restricted to persons between the ages of 25 and 29 (inclusive), who have earned a single Bachelor degree (no double majors, no graduate degree), and who worked at least 48 weeks in the sample year. Median wages are used: since the wage distribution has a long right tail, a few very high wages push up the mean, making the median a more realistic figure for expected wage. The dotted blue line at $31,250 represents the median wage of the driver of a heavy truck, ages 25 to 29. Cyan triangles indicate degrees whose holders are over 50% female. Only the top 25% most popular (frequent) degrees are shown. (Acknowledgement: The chart format is modeled on the 2011 chart of rafalab.)
Figure 1 should therefore give some insight into how most college majors will fare in their first years in the labor market. Note how math-heavy majors earn higher salaries, and the female absence from those degrees. Note also that majors that are fun (e.g., Drama) and/or spiritually fulfilling (e.g., Philosophy) tend to lead to low salaries. A few majors (e.g., Chemistry or Biology) can lead to high salaries as a foundation for a graduate or professional degree, but are not high-earning on their own. Economics and Finance are among the highest-earning degrees.
Wage growth and majors
Figure 2 below shows the difference in median wages between degree holders age 25-29 and holders of the same degree ages 45-64. All 173 degrees present in the Census data are shown, not simply the most popular. As in Figure 1, the population is restricted to those holding only one Bachelors degree (no double majors, no graduate degree), who are working at least 48 weeks per year. And once again, the blue dotted lines represents the median wage of heavy truck drivers (the line at $31,250 for age 25-29 and the line at $42,350 for age 45-64), red circles represent majority male degrees, and cyan triangles majority female degrees.
This figure gives some insight into wage growth stemming from job experience. Only two degrees show a decline, and all but a few rise above the (age 45-64) Trucker wage, though some degrees rise much more than others. Many of the very lowest earning degrees are in fields where a graduate degree would offer a much higher wage. Other low earners are associated with the education sector, where government tends to be the primary employer. Note also that some female majority degrees are male majority in the older generation, a clear sign of female penetration into traditionally male occupations.
A few of these results are no doubt anomalous. Some undergraduate degrees, such as Public Policy, may be offered at only a few elite schools. Others, such as Neuroscience, are relatively new college degree programs, and may have very few degree holders in the older age group. Petroleum Engineering offers extremely high returns, but the 2010-2014 time period is one of very high petroleum prices, when it was profitable to employ fracking and other creative methods requiring skilled engineers.
Demographics of majors
Figure 3 plots proportion foreign born against the proportion female, for each of the degrees shown in Figure 1. One interesting feature of educational choice is the large number of foreign-born males who hold degrees in the math-intensive majors. American universities maintain world leadership in engineering and science, attracting many foreign students.
Occupations and majors
Economics
The American Community Survey includes information on the occupations pursued by college graduates. Table 1 below shows the top occupations for holders of Bachelors degrees in Economics (these data include all persons with both Bachelors degree and an occupation, including those with graduate degrees). The figures are the percentage of Economics Bachelor degree holders that work in that occupation. The median wage applies to all Economics Bachelors degree holders ages 25-64 in the occupation. Only occupations with at least 1% are shown.
The table shows that economics majors are heavily represented in legal occupations, as well as in many occupations in business management and business support. Note that only about 1% of economics majors go on to work as economists.
| Occupation pursued by Economics graduate | age25.29 | age30.44 | age45.64 | age.ALL | medianWage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers and Judges Magistrates and Other Judicial Workers | 3.4 | 5.9 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 107,524 |
| Miscellaneous Managers Including Funeral Service Managers and Postmasters and Mail Superintendents | 4.3 | 5.7 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 97,284 |
| Accountants and Auditors | 6.8 | 5.7 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 64,312 |
| Financial Managers | 3.1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 107,186 |
| Chief Executives and Legislators | 0.8 | 2.9 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 133,332 |
| Management Analysts | 3.6 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 79,318 |
| Postsecondary Teachers | 3.7 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 59,374 |
| Personal Financial Advisors | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 98,472 |
| Securities Commodities and Financial Services Sales Agents | 2.2 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 109,414 |
| First Line Supervisors of Non Retail Sales Workers | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 99,999 |
| Marketing and Sales Managers | 1.6 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 107,186 |
| First Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 45,379 |
| Sales Representatives Wholesale and Manufacturing | 1.1 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 76,590 |
| Elementary and Middle School Teachers | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 43,765 |
| Retail Salespersons | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 32,156 |
| General and Operations Managers | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 100,842 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 75,030 |
| Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 32,824 |
| Software Developers Applications and Systems Software | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 93,749 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 43,010 |
| First Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 62,499 |
| Sales Representatives Services All Other | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 84,248 |
| Economists | 0.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 110,927 |
| Credit Counselors and Loan Officers | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 78,124 |
| Financial Analysts | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 100,842 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 104,165 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 33,854 |
| Insurance Sales Agents | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 63,460 |
| Human Resources Workers | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 68,599 |
| Physicians and Surgeons | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 151,264 |
| Property Real Estate and Community Association Managers | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 54,707 |
| Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 82,060 |
| Education Administrators | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 75,030 |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 25,000 |
All primary Business majors
Table 2 below is the same as above, except that it shows the top occupations for holders of Bachelors degrees in the primary Business majors (the abbreviations are those we use here in the Jones College). These data include all persons with both Bachelors degree and an occupation, ages 25-64, including those with graduate degrees. Only occupations with at least 1% are shown.
| Occupation pursued by Business graduate | BUAD | MGMT | ECON | FIN | ACTG | MKT | INFS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountants and Auditors | 4.8 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 10.5 | 39.0 | 1.9 | 2.5 |
| Miscellaneous Managers, Including Funeral Service Managers and Postmasters and Mail Superintendents | 6.0 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 6.8 |
| Financial Managers | 2.9 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 8.2 | 6.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| Chief Executives and Legislators | 3.2 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| First Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 1.4 |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing | 3.2 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 5.9 | 0.8 |
| Marketing and Sales Managers | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 6.9 | 1.2 |
| Management Analysts | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 3.6 |
| Lawyers, and Judges, Magistrates, and Other Judicial Workers | 1.5 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Retail Salespersons | 2.8 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 1.1 |
| First Line Supervisors of Non Retail Sales Workers | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 1.1 |
| Elementary and Middle School Teachers | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 1.4 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 7.6 |
| Software Developers, Applications and Systems Software | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 1.3 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 4.8 |
| Personal Financial Advisors | 1.2 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| General and Operations Managers | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 1.2 |
| First Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Sales Representatives, Services, All Other | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 0.6 |
| Human Resources Workers | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.8 |
| Insurance Sales Agents | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| Postsecondary Teachers | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.0 |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Credit Counselors and Loan Officers | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Computer Programmers | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 4.0 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 3.8 |
| Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 0.4 |
| Computer Support Specialists | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 3.6 |
| Education Administrators | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Food Service Managers | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Financial Analysts | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Human Resources Managers | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.4 |
| Advertising Sales Agents | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 0.1 |
| Database Administrators | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Economists | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Double majors
Economics
The American Community Survey records up to two Bachelor degree fields for each person, making it possible to identify double majors. Table 3, below, considers students who have Economics as one of their double majors, among those aged 25-29. The figures show the percent of Economics-in-double-major students who have their other major in the field shown. Only those majors with at least 0.5% are shown.
Students double-major with economics for various reasons. Economics will teach one a lot about how the world works, so those primarily interested in another field, such as political science or theology, study economics in order to increase their competence in that other field. Advanced economics requires a solid foundation in mathematics, so those primarily interested in economics often take a second major in math. An economics degree also sends a good signal in the job market, so many students in humanities fields, such as foreign languages, take economics as a second major in order to enhance their ability to make a living.
| Other majors of those with Economics in double major | percent of Economics double majors |
|---|---|
| Finance (FIN) | 14.9 |
| Political Science and Government | 13.6 |
| Mathematics | 9.8 |
| French German Latin and Other Common Foreign Language Studies | 3.8 |
| Accounting (ACTG) | 3.7 |
| General Business (BUAD) | 3.7 |
| Psychology | 3.7 |
| History | 3.3 |
| Business Management and Administration (MGMT) | 3.2 |
| International Relations | 3.2 |
| Philosophy and Religious Studies | 2.5 |
| Area Ethnic and Civilization Studies | 1.9 |
| Intercultural and International Studies | 1.8 |
| Marketing and Marketing Research (MKT) | 1.6 |
| Communications | 1.4 |
| Computer Science | 1.4 |
| Biology | 1.3 |
| Sociology | 1.3 |
| English Language and Literature | 1.2 |
| International Business | 1.1 |
| Statistics and Decision Science | 1.1 |
| Environmental Science | 1.0 |
| Other Foreign Languages | 1.0 |
| Business Economics | 0.8 |
| Music | 0.8 |
| Chemistry | 0.7 |
| Criminology | 0.7 |
| Anthropology and Archeology | 0.6 |
| Art History and Criticism | 0.6 |
| Biochemical Sciences | 0.6 |
| Human Resources and Personnel Management | 0.5 |
| Operations Logistics and Commerce | 0.5 |
| Physics | 0.5 |
| Public Policy | 0.5 |
All primary Business majors
Table 4 extends Table 3 to all primary business majors. Each column shows the percent of Business-in-double-major students who have their other major in the degree indicated by the row name. Only degrees making up at least 0.5% of one of the double majors are shown.
Clearly, most students who double major with a business field have both degrees in business. Some of the degrees in the list, such as Advertising, are often awarded by a business school, but are taught by other colleges at MTSU. Some degrees are specialities within an existing Jones College degree; for example, both Operations Management and International Business are typically learned by Jones College students who graduate with a MGMT degree.
| Other major in double major | BUAD | MGMT | ECON | FIN | ACTG | MKT | INFS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance (FIN) | 4.6 | 9.2 | 14.9 | 0.0 | 43.5 | 11.3 | 10.0 |
| Accounting (ACTG) | 10.7 | 13.6 | 3.7 | 34.2 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 19.9 |
| Business Management and Administration (MGMT) | 1.7 | 0.0 | 3.2 | 9.6 | 18.0 | 21.7 | 14.0 |
| Marketing and Marketing Research (MKT) | 13.1 | 21.6 | 1.6 | 11.7 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| Economics (ECON) | 5.2 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 14.2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| Political Science and Government | 2.3 | 1.5 | 13.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Operations Logistics and Ecommerce | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 10.0 |
| Mathematics | 0.8 | 0.6 | 9.8 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| General Business (BUAD) | 0.0 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 2.4 |
| Communications | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 9.1 | 0.4 |
| Advertising and Public Relations | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.4 | 1.0 |
| Music | 8.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Miscellaneous Business Medical Administration | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| Commercial Art and Graphic Design | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 0.0 |
| Psychology | 5.2 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| Computer and Information Systems | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 5.2 |
| Engineering and Industrial Management | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
| International Business | 0.1 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 |
| Computer Science | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 4.1 |
| French German Latin and Other Common Foreign Language Studies | 2.2 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Human Resources and Personnel Management | 0.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 0.6 |
| History | 2.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| International Relations | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Physical Fitness Parks Recreation and Leisure | 3.1 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Business Economics | 0.7 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 |
| Engineering Technologies | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Philosophy and Religious Studies | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Management Information Systems and Statistics (INFS) | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Family and Consumer Sciences | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| English Language and Literature | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Area Ethnic and Civilization Studies | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Sociology | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Intercultural and International Studies | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Information Sciences | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Computer Administration Management and Security | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| Hospitality Management | 0.2 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Biology | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Mass Media | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| Nursing | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| General Education | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| General Medical and Health Services | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| Elementary Education | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| Statistics and Decision Science | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Molecular Biology | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 |
| Other Foreign Languages | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Environmental Science | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| General Engineering | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Pre Law and Legal Studies | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| Fine Arts | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Criminal Justice and Fire Protection | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Journalism | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| Transportation Sciences and Technologies | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Computer Engineering | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Animal Sciences | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Chemistry | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Criminology | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Multi Disciplinary or General Science | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Anthropology and Archeology | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Agriculture Production and Management | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Art History and Criticism | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Cosmetology Services and Culinary Arts | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| General Agriculture | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Human Services and Community Organization | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Biochemical Sciences | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Film Video and Photographic Arts | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Public Policy | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Liberal Arts | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Miscellaneous Education | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Physics | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Actuarial Science | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Communication Technologies | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Nutrition Sciences | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Who works as an economist?
The Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC) category for Economist is described thus:
Conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy. May collect and process economic and statistical data using sampling techniques and econometric methods.
This category excludes academic economists, who are categorized as post-secondary teachers. Table 5 shows the most common undergraduate degrees held by economists, and provides some additional demographic information. Fewer than half (42.7%) of those in the occupation Economist have a bachelors degree in Economics. Overall, almost 30% of these economists have a PhD. The ACS PUMS data report only field of bachelors degree, not field of PhD, but it seems safe to assume that in almost all cases the PhD would be in Economics. About a third of all economists are foreign-born, and a third are female. Some of the undergraduate degrees are a bit surprising. For example, Advertising and Public Relations would seem to have no connection to economics, yet 0.6% of economists claim that as their undergraduate degree. Obviously, jobs as economists are quite varied, as is of course the case with most occupations.
| bachelor degree held by economist | pctEconomists | medianWage | medianAge | pctPhD | pctFrgnBorn | pctFemale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economics (ECON) | 42.7 | 117,905 | 42 | 43.3 | 46.7 | 28.7 |
| Political Science and Government | 6.3 | 106,131 | 39 | 17.2 | 19.3 | 37.5 |
| Business Management and Administration (MGMT) | 4.3 | 86,725 | 49 | 11.5 | 14.4 | 51.6 |
| Mathematics | 3.5 | 104,165 | 36 | 45.4 | 49.3 | 25.8 |
| General Business (BUAD) | 3.1 | 110,596 | 49 | 24.3 | 20.6 | 12.1 |
| History | 2.3 | 76,803 | 39 | 13.8 | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| International Relations | 1.8 | 92,163 | 34 | 17.7 | 36.1 | 41.8 |
| Business Economics | 1.7 | 80,966 | 33 | 18.6 | 41.1 | 44.9 |
| Architecture | 1.6 | 65,648 | 32 | 13.6 | 13.6 | 26.5 |
| Agricultural Economics | 1.5 | 79,875 | 43 | 22.7 | 9.2 | 39.6 |
| Psychology | 1.5 | 62,499 | 44 | 4.8 | 10.8 | 72.4 |
| English Language and Literature | 1.4 | 104,165 | 41 | 38.4 | 32.5 | 60.7 |
| Finance (FIN) | 1.4 | 151,264 | 41 | 29.5 | 41.9 | 38.0 |
| Biology | 1.3 | 118,749 | 37 | 20.9 | 14.6 | 48.1 |
| General Engineering | 1.3 | 102,404 | 34 | 36.8 | 44.6 | 7.9 |
| Marketing and Marketing Research (MKT) | 1.3 | 92,163 | 47 | 11.0 | 25.8 | 24.7 |
| Accounting (ACTG) | 1.2 | 84,708 | 42 | 8.9 | 18.5 | 37.1 |
| Sociology | 1.0 | 133,125 | 56 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 64.1 |
| Chemistry | 0.7 | 181,516 | 37 | 13.5 | 17.6 | 10.8 |
| Philosophy and Religious Studies | 0.7 | 110,927 | 40 | 62.8 | 20.0 | 31.0 |
| Plant Science and Agronomy | 0.7 | 96,467 | 53 | 12.2 | 26.5 | 0.0 |
| Advertising and Public Relations | 0.6 | 98,957 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 |
| Area Ethnic and Civilization Studies | 0.6 | 128,623 | 34 | 18.0 | 30.2 | 39.6 |
| Public Administration | 0.6 | 44,860 | 52 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 53.5 |
| Chemical Engineering | 0.5 | 123,264 | 33 | 17.5 | 0.0 | 38.8 |
| Civil Engineering | 0.5 | 140,596 | 50 | 31.5 | 61.1 | 17.6 |
| Electrical Engineering | 0.5 | 91,108 | 41 | 13.9 | 80.0 | 0.0 |
| French German Latin and Other Common Foreign Language Studies | 0.5 | 80,674 | 45 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 32.7 |
| General Education | 0.5 | 93,252 | 50 | 0.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 |
| Liberal Arts | 0.5 | 31,250 | 26 | 0.0 | 14.6 | 0.0 |
| Physics | 0.5 | 196,944 | 48 | 4.8 | 36.2 | 17.1 |
| Social Work | 0.5 | 61,514 | 33 | 0.0 | 42.3 | 60.4 |
| Total (all Bachelor degrees) | 100.0 | 117,905 | 42 | 29.9 | 34.2 | 31.9 |
Compiled on 2017-01-18 by E. Anthon Eff
