Close Menu
    [OC] STEM Graduate Unemployment and Salaries
    Data

    [OC] STEM Graduate Unemployment and Salaries


    2024 data on unemployment and salary on 2024 STEM major graduates. Data from the US Census American Community Survey as accessed from the Federal Reserve.

    Data is from US adults age 22-27 with a bachelors degree.

    Posted by graphsarecool

    View 22 Comments

    22 Comments

    2. TheBigBo-Peep on

      I really like this chart, but unemployment is difficult without taking underemployment into consideration

    5. tweellatte117 on

      Would be interesting to see these numbers over time, especially pre and post COVID. Most industries saw a salary bump, but my familiarity with people in Civil and Mechanical tells me these averages saw a huge bump for early career salaries when there was a shortage of candidates. Like starting salaries shifted +$10k in 2 years, which was following years of stagnant entry wages

    7. lhash12345 on

      id personally reverse the x-axis so the top right is “optimal” (low unemployment + high wages)

      also would be interesting to color code by some categorical data point like category (separating biology vs compsci for example), size by # graduates or # jobs, etc.

    8. Ryidon on

      It would be interesting to see what the number of graduates of those stem fields. Im sure there are more cs majors then aerospace engineers.

    10. UnbiddenGraph17 on

      As an aerospace engineer with 15 YoE, this is very true at all levels. Good industry with great prospects. The interviews I’m on panels for are generally sad. Usually people without any aerospace experience looking to enter high level roles or new hires with no social skills. 

    11. B1G_Fan on

      So, 10 or 15 years from now, tech will be in the same fix as civil engineering is now…

      Because these CS and Computer Engineering grads couldn’t get entry-level jobs, employers will be complaining about the lack of those folks with 10 to 15 year experience

    12. Dookietheturtle on

      Speaking on the biology/chem side, it’s essentially a requirement at this point to start in academia, where the pay is extremely low, if you want to make any actual money in pharma down the line with only a bachelors. Barring that, the ceiling is unfortunately pretty low. People considering the field should really decide if they can swing getting a PhD instead, and if not, have a solid career plan in place before pursuing the degree

    14. No-Key-6396 on

      Lol, as someone studying CS right now i am very curious to know the future of this industry.

    15. Affectionate_Love229 on

      I have a chemistry degree, I can’t speak to any others, but to bunch bs/masters degree with Ph.D. is kinda nonsensical.

    16. aDuckedUpGoose on

      Man I can never trust this data. I graduated college in 2017 and they were telling us then that the average graduate in mech eng would make 80k. I asked quite a few of my classmates, and a surprisingly large amount of people including myself graduated without a job. One person had 75k for her starting position but most with a job were more in the area of 60k. Small population, sure, but it makes it hard for me to take this data seriously. I couldn’t even find entry level jobs making 80k available on listings.

    17. Doesntmatter1237 on

      Thought I was doing okay studying computer science but as it seems, no degree is a good idea

    18. ninjakitty117 on

      I finished my degree in genetics 10 years ago. I looked at jobs in the field, but realized I didn’t actually want to *work* in it, I just liked learning about it.

      I kept my college job at a local grocery store and moved up the ranks. Been full time since 2018, have good insurance, a 401K, and make $65K/year. It baffles me that I’m doing better than I would’ve done had I stuck in the field.

    19. GoreMeister982 on

      Looking at the source data it shows almost 50% have graduate degrees for electrical engineering. Is this dataset heavily skewed towards graduate educated, or did I just underestimate how many folks are getting their masters these days?

    21. Amekaze on

      I would be curious to see the shift when you add in drop outs and self taught programmers. I dropped out of computer science and at 22 I was making like 50 as a consultant, by 27 I was making 90 at a startup.
      For self taught people it might be hard to put them in a bucket though.

    22. Harmonic_Flatulence on

      Can confirm, the entry level folks in my company doing biology are making about that. I don’t make a ton with my job, but I love the hell out it. Even after I have been doing it for 25 years. Freshwater biology, good fun if you can get it.