Career earnings
What economists can expect to earn in different fields
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (online in 2022) reports annual wages for economists. For economists of all educational levels, the median earnings in 2020 were $108,350 with $59,220 at the tenth percentile and $198,230 at the 90th percentile.
Median Annual Wages for Economists in May 2020 in the Top Five Industries Employing Economists (from the Occupation Outlook Handbook)
| Industry | Annual Wage |
| Finance and insurance | $129,060 |
| Federal government, excluding postal service | $125,350 |
| Scientific research and development services | $122,220 |
| Management, scientific, and technical consulting services | $111,340 |
| State and local government, excluding education and hospitals | $73,510 |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Economists. (Visited April 4, 2022).
Payscale.com reports its survey of people with Baccalaureate degrees (and no more) who are employed full time, showing starting salaries (typically with two-years of experience) and mid-career annual earnings. Here are selected occupations for the 2021 report.
| College Major | Starting Salary | Mid-career Salary |
| Petroleum Engineering | $93,200 | $187,300 |
| Operations Research & Industrial Engineering | $84,800 | $170,400 |
| Electrical Engineering & Computer Science | $108,500 | $159,300 |
| Interaction Design | $68,300 | $155,800 |
| Public Accounting | $59,800 | $147,700 |
| Operations Research | $83,500 | $147,400 |
| Applied Economics and Management | $66,100 | $146,400 |
| Business Computing | $73,000 | $143,600 |
| Actuarial Mathematics | $64,300 | $143,400 |
| Electrical Power Engineering | $76,100 | $142,600 |
Source: Majors That Pay You Back, Payscale.com
For more information about academic salaries in economics, check out the Universal Academic Questionnaire (UAQ) published each year in the AEA Papers & Proceedings. The UAQ is a survey of U.S. economics departments taken each fall. One survey is addressed to the chair of the Department of Economics of each institution.