--- title: The Wage Gap Between College and High School Grads Just Hit a Record High description: What's the wage gap for college and high school grads? Young workers with college degrees now earn $22,000 more per year, typically. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. At Money, he’s written extensively about student loans, including guides, explainers and breaking news. MuckRack named Adam one of the top 10 journalists covering student loans in the nation. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ published: '2022-02-14T20:19:05.000Z' modified: '2022-09-15T14:56:22.000Z' section: Education tags: - College word_count: 672 canonical: https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Collage of Graduates in line with details from a dollar bill in the background](https://img.money.com/2022/02/News-2022-Graduate-Page-Gap.jpg) Typical young workers with college degrees now outearn their high-school-graduate counterparts by a record-high $22,000 per year. According to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the median annual wage for a full-time worker ages 22 to 27 with a high school diploma is $30,000. For a full-time worker with a bachelor's degree, it's $52,000. The difference marks a pay gap of $22,000 — the highest on record with the New York Fed, which tracks earnings going back to 1990. The findings are part of the [new report](https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market/index.html#/overview) on recent college graduates. The report also looks at unemployment, underemployment and wages for workers with different college majors. In terms of median wages, every major analyzed by the New York Fed outearned the high school diploma. Of course, there are always exceptions, and some whose educations stopped after high school wind up making more money than college grads. A Georgetown University study found that 16% of workers with [only a high school diploma earn more](https://money.com/college-degree-earnings-high-school-graduates/) than half of workers with bachelor's degrees. Overall, though, the return on investment for a college degree is substantial — worth upwards of [$800,000 or more in increased earnings](https://money.com/college-roi-low-income-students-report/) over a lifetime. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new report shows that some college majors — like those in the STEM fields — fare much better than others in terms of earnings. The difference in earnings among majors highlights a massive income gap of its own. ## Get a Free Resume Review and start a new chapter today ### A Resume Builder can not only help improve your resume, but also match it with your career goals. Click on your state to get started. [GET STARTED](https://money.com/pr/nb983a479ae2?ap_referrer=%2Fwage-gap-college-high-school-grads%2F) ## Highest-paying college majors The New York Fed compiled data on earnings by major for recent grads and for mid-career grads. Recent grads are defined as 22 to 27 years old, and mid-career grads are between 35 and 45. For both recent and mid-career grads, engineering majors dominate the top earning positions. Highest-paying majors for recent grads: - Computer engineering: $74,000 - Chemical engineering: $70,000 - Aerospace engineering: $70,000 - Electrical engineering: $70,000 - Computer science: $70,000 Unsurprisingly, the further along someone is in their career, the more they earn. Highest-paying majors for mid-career grads: - Chemical engineering: $111,000 - Computer engineering: $110,000 - Aerospace engineering: $110,000 - Electrical engineering: $107,000 - Mechanical engineering: $104,000 ## Lowest-paying college majors On the other hand, college graduates with certain majors barely earn more than people with only a high school diploma. Here’s a look at the lowest-paying majors, according to the report. Liberal arts majors dominate this list. Lowest-paying majors for recent grads: - Family and consumer sciences: $32,000 - General social sciences: $34,000 - Performing arts: $34,000 - Social services: $35,000 - Anthropology: $36,000 Lowest-paying majors for mid-career grads: - Early childhood education: $43,700 - Elementary education: $45,400 - Social services: $50,000 - General education: $50,000 - Family and consumer sciences: $51,000 ## Build your professional brand with a Resume Builder ### TopResume offers a place to take your career stories and create your professional brand, starting with a great resume. Click below to get started. [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/nacb15d5c44a?ap_referrer=%2Fwage-gap-college-high-school-grads%2F) ## Employment by college major The Fed’s report also dives into the unemployment and underemployment rates. The underemployment rate shows which majors are likely to result in recent grads taking “non-college" jobs. The Fed defines the term as positions that generally do not require a college degree. The majors with the lowest unemployment rates — and several are below 2% — highlight the subject areas that are currently in highest demand. Here are the majors with lowest unemployment rates for recent grads: - Medical technicians: 0.7% - Early childhood education: 1.4% - Construction services: 1.6% - Elementary education: 1.7% - Biochemistry 1.7% Curiously, several majors with low unemployment rates are among the ones that pay the recent grads the least. The majors with the highest underemployment rates for recent grads include: - Criminal justice: 71.1% - Performing arts: 70.2% - Anthropology: 61.3% - Leisure and hospitality: 59% - Miscellaneous technology: 59% Overall, median wages for early grads range from $32,000 to $74,000, for another income gap of $42,000. This pay-gap-by-major far exceeds the difference in earnings between college and high school grads. The gap only widens over time: Mid-career bachelor’s degree holders earn between $43,700 and $111,000. The $67,300 question then becomes not only will you go to college — but what major will you choose? ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "College", "item": "https://money.com/college/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Wage Gap Between College and High School Grads Just Hit a Record High" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/", "name": "The Wage Gap Between College and High School Grads Just Hit a Record High", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-02-14T20:19:05.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/wage-gap-college-high-school-grads/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2022-09-15T14:56:22.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The Wage Gap Between College and High School Grads Just Hit a Record High", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/02/News-2022-Graduate-Page-Gap.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-2022-Graduate-Pay-Gap" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. 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