Best Schools for Economics
Economics graduates earn a median of $84,277 within four years of graduating, ranking #80 out of 283 tracked majors — 35% above the median across all fields. There are 442 colleges nationwide with tracked earnings for this major, producing 30,495 recent graduates.
Where you study matters: Williams College graduates earn $166,678 while University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras graduates earn $38,827 — a $127,851 difference. Factors like location, employer networks, co-op programs, and curriculum focus drive this gap. Across all fields, though, which major you pick separates earnings more than which college does.
Early career salary growth is modest: Economics graduates see an average 4% increase between year 1 and year 2 post-graduation, reflecting career advancement and skill development in the first years after college.
Public vs Private: Economics
Private schools produce $22,502 more in early earnings on average for Economics graduates. Factor in tuition difference to calculate which offers better ROI.
Economics by State
Also by state: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Top Economics Schools by Graduate Earnings
Williams College
Williamstown, MA · Private
Duke University
Durham, NC · Private
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ · Private
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL · Private
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA · Private
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH · Private
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA · Private
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA · Private
Yale University
New Haven, CT · Private
Amherst College
Amherst, MA · Private
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN · Private
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY · Private
Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY · Private
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA · Public
Hamilton College
Clinton, NY · Private
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA · Private
Rice University
Houston, TX · Private
Colgate University
Hamilton, NY · Private
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD · Private
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA · Private
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL · Private
Brown University
Providence, RI · Private
Tufts University
Medford, MA · Private
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT · Private
Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO · Private
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN · Private
Trinity College
Hartford, CT · Private
Bowdoin College
Brunswick, ME · Private
Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA · Private
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA · Private
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA · Private
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT · Private
Georgetown University
Washington, DC · Private
Marist University
Poughkeepsie, NY · Private
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA · Private
New York University
New York, NY · Private
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA · Private
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH · Private
Lafayette College
Easton, PA · Private
Stanford University
Stanford, CA · Private
Elon University
Elon, NC · Private
Haverford College
Haverford, PA · Private
Barnard College
New York, NY · Private
Hobart William Smith Colleges
Geneva, NY · Private
Emory University
Atlanta, GA · Private
Bates College
Lewiston, ME · Private
University of Virginia-Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA · Public
Grinnell College
Grinnell, IA · Private
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI · Public
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY · Private
Showing top 50 of 442 schools. View all or filter by state above.
Majors with Similar Earnings
Frequently Asked Questions
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Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median 2 years after graduation for bachelor's degree holders, from the field-of-study file last updated June 2026. Institution-level figures elsewhere on the site come from the June 2026 release — Scorecard publishes the two separately.
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