Which college degrees are the best for finding a job?

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, uses recent data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to examine the careers that offer the best prospect and their respective median salaries.

Nutrition Sciences tops the list, with only 0.4% unemployment rate. Graduates can expect a median salary of $75,000 by age 35-45.

Construction Services and Animal & Plant Sciences follow, also with low unemployment rate (0.7% and 1.0%, respectively), but diverge significantly in earnings—$100,000 versus $70,000 per year.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics-related degrees (STEM) tend to yield high returns.

Aerospace Engineering, for example, ranks eighth in unemployment rate but first in compensation within this list at $125K. Similarly, Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemical Engineering all boast six-figure salaries while having unemployment rates between 1.5–2.2%.

RankField of StudyUnemployment Rate (%)Median Salary1Nutrition Sciences0.4%$75K2Construction Services0.7%$100K3Animal & Plant Sciences1.0%$70K4Civil Engineering1.0%$100K5Special Education1.0%$55K6Agriculture1.2%$75K7Early Education1.3%$49K8Aerospace Engineering1.4%$125K9Nursing1.4%$84K10Earth Sciences1.5%$88K11Mechanical Engineering1.5%$115K12Social Services1.7%$54K13Elementary Education1.8%$53K14Accounting1.9%$88K15Engineering Technologies1.9%$100K16Chemical Engineering2.0%$120K17Electrical Engineering2.2%$120K18Health Services2.2%$65K19Business Analytics2.4%$100K20General Engineering2.4%$100K21Miscellaneous Education2.5%$60K22Environmental Studies2.6%$75K23Ethnic Studies2.6%$83K

Education-related fields like Early Childhood Education (1.3%, $49,000) and Special Education (1.0%, $55,000) show lower median earnings despite low unemployment rate, highlighting the income disparity across academic disciplines.

Fields like Business Analytics and General Engineering have 2.4% unemployment rate, with both yielding strong salaries of $100,000.

Meanwhile, areas such as Ethnic Studies and Environmental Studies offer moderate pay ($83,000 and $75,000, respectively) with 2.6% unemployment rate.

In a previous graphic, we listed the worst degrees for finding a job. At the top of the list is anthropology, with an unemployment rate of 9.4%, the highest rate analyzed.

Fine arts and sociology follow closely, with unemployment rates of 7.0% and 6.7%, respectively. These degrees tend to offer mid-career salaries around $70,000, placing them on the lower end of the earnings spectrum.

Interestingly, some of the highest-paying degrees also have relatively high unemployment rates.

For instance, computer engineering majors earn a median of $122,000 mid-career, but face a 7.5% unemployment rate. Physics ($100,000) and computer science ($115,000) also show above-average jobless rates, at 7.8% and 6.1%, respectively.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out the Highest Paying College Majors on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.