US: computer graduates earn the most — and are jobless more often than almost anyone
In 2024 computer engineering paid $90 k a year at the start, #1 of 73 majors, with 7.8% unemployed, #2. Computer science: $87 k and 7.0%. All graduates aged 22–27: $58 k and 4.2%.
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The major called the safest choice in the 2010s now gives both the best starting pay and one of the highest unemployment rates at the start. Those who get in work in their field; getting in is what got hard. It is not a rule that higher pay means higher unemployment: across all majors there is no link.
Bars: unemployment of graduates aged 22–27 with a bachelor's or higher by major, 2024, %.
- US: Computer engineering unemployment %, pay $
7.8; 90,000
New York Fed: The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates, by major (ACS)
- US: Computer science unemployment %, pay $
7.0; 87,000
New York Fed: The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates, by major (ACS)
- US: all graduates aged 22–27 unemployment %, pay $
4.2; 58,000
New York Fed: The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates, by major (ACS)
New York Fed, outcomes by major (ACS 2024, 73 majors): unemployment at 22–27 (bachelor's or higher, students excluded), median full-time pay (bachelor's only). Across all majors the rank correlation of pay and unemployment is 0.04: none.
One year and one survey; the Fed publishes no errors, but computer majors are large, so their estimates are firmer. Those employed work in their field: 15.8% and 19.1% in jobs not needing the degree, against 39.4% overall. The cause — tech hiring after 2022, AI, more graduates — is not measured.
A question for this picture
And young graduates overall? Their unemployment has been above that of all workers for more than five years.