What Degree Has the Lowest Salary? 2025 Data, Examples, and Smarter Choices

You’re not wrong to ask this. Picking a major that leads to low pay can ripple through everything-your rent, your loans, your options. If you just want the straight answer, I’ll give it to you. But salary by degree isn’t a single number carved in stone. It shifts with the job you take, where you live, and the skills you stack on top. So here’s the short answer, then the playbook to sanity-check the data and make a smarter plan.

Quick answer: what degree has the lowest salary? (TL;DR + context)

Short version first, then nuance.

• Across U.S. bachelor’s degrees in 2025, majors that most consistently land at the bottom of salary rankings are: Early Childhood Education, Social Work/Human Services, Religious Studies/Theology, Fine/Performing Arts, and Family & Consumer Sciences. Typical early-career pay ranges: about $38,000-$48,000; mid-career often $55,000-$70,000, depending on role and location.
• Why these majors run low: they funnel into roles concentrated in lower-paying industries (education, social assistance, nonprofits) with rigid pay scales and limited private-sector premiums.
• The major isn’t destiny. Occupation and industry drive most of your pay. A psychology grad in tech sales can out-earn a biology grad in lab support within a year. Think “job first, major second.”
• Want higher pay without switching majors? Add market skills (project management, data, UX, healthcare admin, sales, compliance), target higher-paying industries, and pick metro areas with strong demand.
• Sources behind these claims: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS 2024), NACE First-Destination data for recent grads (Class of 2024), U.S. Census ACS (2023), and the 2025 College Salary Report (early- and mid-career medians by major).

Expectation check: numbers vary by city, job title, and employer. Think in ranges, not single-point answers. If you’re choosing a major today, anchor on the role you want and reverse-engineer the path.

How to read salary-by-degree data the right way (and verify it)

If you’ve ever seen two charts disagree on a major’s pay, you’re not crazy. Here’s a simple way to get to a reliable answer without spending hours in spreadsheets.

1. Define your scope. Are you comparing early-career (0-3 years) or mid-career (10+ years)? Bachelor’s only, or advanced degrees included? U.S. national or a specific metro?
2. Start with three credible sources. Use: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (occupational wages by job, not major), NACE (new-grad salary outcomes by major), and a major-by-major report (e.g., Pay data that groups early- and mid-career medians). Cross-check ranges.
3. Translate major → job titles. Majors don’t pay salaries. Jobs do. For each major you’re considering, list the top 3 first jobs grads get (example: Psychology → case manager, HR coordinator, sales development rep). Pull wages for those jobs.
4. Adjust for location. Apply a location multiplier. Rule of thumb: big coastal metros can run 1.15-1.35x national pay; smaller cities and rural areas can be 0.85-0.95x. Pair that with the local cost of living to judge real take-home power.
5. Check unemployment/underemployment. Low pay with stable jobs may still beat a volatile path with gaps. NACE and Census data can show employment rates by field.
6. Validate with live job ads. Search the role + city on a major job board. Filter for “entry level” and note the posted ranges. That trims any rosy averages.
7. Include your debt. A $44,000 salary and $30,000 in loans feels different than the same salary with no debt. A quick rule: keep total borrowing under your expected first-year salary for the job you’re targeting.

Heuristics that save time:

• 60-30-10 rule: About 60% of your earnings come from occupation choice, 30% from industry, 10% from major. That’s why a non-technical major in tech sales often outearns a science major in a nonprofit lab.
• Three fast pay boosters: pick a sales-facing or operations role (revenue-adjacent), get into a high-paying industry (tech, healthcare, finance, B2B), and add one marketable certification.
• Offer-focused job search: Apply where your skills map cleanly to revenue, cost-saving, or compliance. Employers pay for outcomes, not coursework.

Simple salary sanity check formula:

• Target City Salary ≈ National Median for the Role × Location Factor + (5-15% if you hold an in-demand cert/skill relevant to the role).

Example: Entry-level HR coordinator national median $47k. Moving to Seattle (×1.20) and holding a SHRM-CP? $47k × 1.20 = $56k; add 10% → ~$62k target range.

Examples, comparisons, and real ways to boost pay-even with a low-paying major

Let’s get specific. Below are majors that commonly sit at the low end and what that looks like in real jobs-and how to climb faster without changing your degree.

Early Childhood Education (ECE): Most grads start as preschool or elementary teachers. Public-sector pay tables keep salaries tight early on. Ways up: move into K-12 districts with higher union scales, specialize (special education often pays more), or pivot into instructional design, edtech customer success, or corporate learning roles.

Social Work / Human Services: Case management roles often start in the low-to-mid $40Ks. The biggest jumps tend to come with licensure (e.g., LCSW), moving into healthcare systems, or shifting to program management, benefits administration, or clinical operations in hospitals.

Religious Studies / Theology: Many grads work in ministry, nonprofits, or education with modest pay. A switch into community outreach for hospitals, development/fundraising, or ethics/compliance in healthcare can lift earnings without betraying the mission.

Fine & Performing Arts: Early roles span retail, arts admin, design assistance, and gig work. The high-ROI route: apply your creative eye to commercial roles-graphic/visual design, UX/UI (with a portfolio and a UX bootcamp), video editing for brands, or motion graphics.

Family & Consumer Sciences: Think community education, nutrition assistance, and program roles. Upside tends to come from certifications (CPSM for procurement, CHES for health education), moving into hospital/insurer settings, or switching to customer success and operations.

Now some apples-to-apples comparisons.

• Same major, different outcomes: A Theater grad in box office management might sit at ~$40-45k early on. A Theater grad in sales development at a B2B software firm can hit $55-80k with commissions in year one.
• Same role, different industries: HR coordinator in a small nonprofit: ~$42-48k. HR coordinator at a fast-growing healthcare network: ~$55-65k with better benefits.
• Same city, portfolio wins: A Studio Art grad with a strong UX case study portfolio can outpace Graphic Design grads without one. Proof beats pedigree.

Certifications and micro-skills that move pay for non-STEM majors:

• Project management: CAPM or PMP (with experience) → opens operations, PM, and implementation roles.
• Sales & revenue: SDR training, MEDDICC, Salesforce Admin → tech sales, RevOps, and customer success.
• Data literacy: Excel/Sheets, SQL basics, Google Analytics → marketing ops, HR analytics, ops analyst roles.
• Design/UX: Figma, fundamentals of UX research, accessibility → product design, content design paths.
• Healthcare: CRCST/sterile processing, medical coding (CPC), RBT/ABA tech, or care coordination → hospital systems with stronger pay ladders.
• Compliance & risk: SOC 2 basics, HIPAA, entry GRC → regulated industries pay premiums for trust.

Anchoring numbers help. Treat these as typical early-career U.S. bands for bachelor’s grads (0-3 years). Your city and role will push these up or down.

Notice the pattern: the lowest bands cluster in roles tied to education, social services, and nonprofits. Industry matters as much as major. The same bachelor’s degree pointed at healthcare systems, tech, or finance can shift the entire pay curve.

What if you already chose a “low-paying” major? Here are fast levers:

• Industry swap: Move your skill set into a higher-paying sector. Example: Social work → care coordination at a hospital or insurer; Arts → marketing operations at a SaaS firm.
• Role upgrade: Slide from “support” into “revenue” or “operations.” Case manager → patient access supervisor. Teacher aide → instructional designer. Gallery assistant → brand content producer.
• Proof of value: Build a portfolio (projects, metrics, before/after). A portfolio beats an extra elective every time.
• Skill micro-badges: One targeted certification or skill sprint that aligns with the role you want (Salesforce Admin, CAPM, Google Analytics, Figma). Aim for skills employers list in 70% of the job postings you want.
• Metro rethink: If feasible, spend 12-24 months in a higher-demand metro to establish a higher salary anchor, then go remote or relocate later if you want.

Reality check on advanced degrees: Some paths (social work, counseling, education leadership) need a master’s or license for real pay growth. Before upgrading, price the degree, check pass rates and clinical hours, and verify local demand. Aim for programs with clear pipelines to employers.

Checklist, mini‑FAQ, and next steps

Here’s your quick toolkit to turn this into action.

Decision checklist (use before choosing or changing majors):

• Have I picked a target role and industry first, then backed into a major?
• Did I check three sources for salary (BLS by job, NACE for new grads, a major-by-major report) and adjust for my metro?
• Do at least 70% of job ads I like list skills I can learn within 12 weeks?
• Is my projected total student debt less than my expected first-year salary?
• Do I have one clear plan to add a marketable skill/cert within 90 days?
• Have I identified 5 employers with roles I want and written down why they’d pay me?

Quick decision tree (for common scenarios):

• If your major points to education/nonprofit roles → add a revenue, operations, or compliance angle to your resume and target healthcare, tech, or finance employers.
• If you love the mission and want to stay → pursue licensure or a role with a clearer pay ladder (e.g., hospital social work, school districts with stronger scales).
• If you want higher pay fast → consider customer success, sales development, recruiting coordination, or implementation specialist roles. These are friendly to diverse majors and pay better early.

Mini‑FAQ

• So, what are the lowest paying degrees in 2025? Early Childhood Education, Social Work/Human Services, Religious Studies/Theology, Fine/Performing Arts, and Family & Consumer Sciences usually sit at the bottom of early‑career medians. Source triangulation: BLS (role wages), NACE (new-grad outcomes), and major-by-major salary reports.
• Does the school matter more than the major? Selectivity can nudge pay early via employer pipelines, but the job and industry matter more. A non-elite grad in tech sales often outearns an elite grad in a low-paying nonprofit role within a year.
• Can you earn well with an arts or social science degree? Yes-if you steer into commercial roles and show measurable outcomes. Portfolios, internships, and specific tools (Figma, SQL basics, CRM) change the game.
• Is teaching always low-paid? K-12 pay varies widely by state/district and improves with tenure and credentials. Special education, STEM subjects, and high-cost-of-living districts often pay meaningfully more.
• Do master’s degrees fix low pay? Sometimes. Licensure-bearing programs (MSW, MEd leadership, counseling) can unlock higher pay. But debt can erase gains if the role’s wage ceiling is still modest. Run the ROI before you enroll.
• What about trades or associate degrees? Many trades/AA paths (electricians, radiologic techs, dental hygienists) beat low-paying bachelor majors on both early pay and debt. If you want fast ROI, include them in your comparison.
• How do I check real salaries without access to premium tools? Use BLS for the role, filter job boards for your city and “entry level” to see posted ranges, and ask recent alumni for their ranges. Cross-verify with any public salary spreadsheets you find for your field.

Next steps (pick one this week):

• Choose your target role and industry. Write down 5 companies hiring that role in your metro.
• Collect 20 job postings for that role. List the top 10 repeated skills. Highlight the 3 you can learn in 30-60 days.
• Enroll in one short, credible course or certification aligned to those skills (think: CAPM prep, Salesforce Admin, Figma+UX starter, SQL for analysts).
• Build one portfolio piece tied to employer outcomes: a small project with metrics (before/after, time saved, revenue influenced).
• Schedule two 20‑minute alumni/employee chats for salary intel and hiring signals. Ask what they wish applicants showed in interviews.

Troubleshooting by persona:

• High school senior, undecided: Shadow two roles you’re considering; if you can’t, watch day‑in‑the‑life videos from credible sources. Pick the role first, then the major that feeds it.
• College junior in a low‑pay major: Add a commercial skill track now (sales ops, data, UX, PM). Intern off-cycle (fall/spring) where competition is lighter.
• New grad underpaid: Target lateral moves into higher-paying industries using the same title. Keep your resume metrics-heavy and outcome-driven.
• Career changer: Translate past wins into the language of the new role. One project + one cert often beats another semester of classes.

About the data: Ranges above reflect triangulated U.S. data as of 2025 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2024 release), the National Association of Colleges and Employers first-destination and salary surveys for recent grads (Class of 2024), U.S. Census American Community Survey (2023), and the 2025 College Salary Report. Always pair national data with local job postings before making a decision.

If you remember one thing, make it this: your occupation and industry pull most of the salary weight. Pick the job you want, then use your major-any major-as a bridge, not a box.