Top 20 Trending Majors With The Highest Salary Potential

Choosing a major is still ahead of you? Or do you consider leaving your job and choose another career? Both cases are difficult if it comes to deciding what education is worth investing in. Of course with having STEM majors can you get the highest paying jobs (STEM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), but what if none of these fields interests you or you feel that you have no sufficient time and energy to study these areas? One thing is certain: you can still make a stable living in another areas. To help you what major to choose, we made a top 20 list of the highest paying degrees by the average starting salaries.

20. Fashion Design

If you love clothing and fashion, don’t think any further, get a degree in fashion design! It’s always been a well paid area, because clothing can never be out of style. People always need someone to create trends and clothing designs. With a fashion design degree, you can be a fashion designer, a textile designer or a stylist very easily. Your job would be mostly working on clothing designs and fashion ranges, and if you’re really good, you can even be a famous designer – which also means that you would earn a hell lot more money. The average starting salary is $41,100, the average mid-career salary is $79,500 in this area.

19. Hotel Management

Hotel industry is a constantly growing field with various opportunities to find what you are really good in. In this area you can settle down for being a lodging manager, who coordinates the front-office activities, sets the prices of the rooms, does the HR for the company, keeps track of the guests’ needs and many more exciting things that don’t let this job to be boring, not even for a minute. In hotel industry, you can also choose to be a food service manager, who works at restaurants and ensures that the staff do their job properly and the guests are satisfied, or you can also be a hospitality manager, who basically runs the day-to-day operations of a hotel or a restaurant. The average starting salary is $42,500, the average mid-career salary is $73,200 in this area.

18. Political Science

Political science is a field of social science which analyses political activities, thoughts and behaviour, and deals with systems of government. Being a political scientists your job will be to engage in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. Seeing through these things, you will be able to construct general principles of how politics work. You will have to understand relations that constitute public life, focus on the theory and the practice of government and politics on all levels. The average starting salary is $42,800, the average mid-career salary is $78,500 in this area.

17. Communication and Media

With a degree of communication and media, you’ll have a lot of opportunity to find a job that suits you the best. Every company needs to communicate their existing, even if they’re not selling any products, it’s essential to be known by people. That’s why alongside with marketing and PR, firms need a good communication specialist, who is responsible for all the internal and external communications to help develop a positive notion in people about itself. Internal communication often consists of making notes from management or writing job descriptions, and external communication includes making marketing materials, editing press releases, press conferences and coordinating events. It’s often a communications specialist’s job to manage the firm’s online appearances. So it’s a complex field where you can find what really interests you and what are you good in. The average starting salary is $43,100, the average mid-career salary is $74,500 in this area.

16. Interior Design

Interior design can be explained in a way when art and science meets. Being an interior designer means that you have eye for beauty and aesthetics, and also you are good in planning, communication, construction management, research and many more fields that require a scientific view. We can say that having an interior design degree shows that you are a multifaceted person. With this major you can settle down for being an interior designer, but you can also fit for jobs like a visual merchandiser or a drafter. The median base salary of this area is $44,098 .

15. Advertising/Marketing

These two areas often blend: most of the times if you’re a sales person for a company, you also have to manage the marketing of the product or even the whole firm. If you choose to have an advertising or marketing degree, you can easily end up managing a business: creating ads, choosing advertising platforms, writing PR articles, organize events for promoting your business and so on – so we can say that it’s a really exciting and diverse field to work in. With this major you can nearly work anywhere. The most popular entry-level jobs are account executive, marketing analyst and media planner. The average starting salary of these jobs are $44,300, the average mid-career salary is $84,100.

14. Food Science

If you’re devoted to food, you’ve definitely found your place. But unfortunately this isn’t all about eating (if your eyes have been already lighten up). Food scientists main job is to study the nature of food, the causes of deterioration, the improvement of foods for consumers and the principals of food processing. By studying and understanding these fields, food scientists help determine which foods are safe for people to eat. Of course it contains food testing also, but you will mainly have to eat food samples for particular types of moulds, yeast and bacteria that might be dangerous to people. You will ensure that food standards are based on excellent quality, produce new food products, explore alternative manufacturing methods and also ensure that food manufacturing meets the standards of the government, the processing, the consumer and the industry. The average starting salary is $45,400, the average mid-career salary is $78,400 in this area.

13. Finance

Having a degree in finance nearly always leads to being a financial accountant. This is a well paid job which has a goal of maintaining a company’s financial records. It can be a very enjoyable job if you’re interested in finance. What a financial accountant does is mainly preparing records, writing financial statements, income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements. There are several companies where it is an accountant’s job to review all transactions of the staff of the accounting department, and to suggest ways to reduce expenses. With a finance degree you can also be a financial analyst and an investment banking accountant. Your average starting salary would be $51,400 and your average mid-career salary would be $85,300.

12. Project Management

Project managers are basically in charge of accomplishing projects of a company. Your job will be to see through the processes starting from planning and making a budget to the presentation and the accomplishment of a project. For this to achieve, you often need to work with the upper management or other departments, or you can also have your own team to help you with the assignments. The fields where a project manager is needed varies from advertising to marketing, to technical or to human resources and to construction…and many more. The average starting salary is $52,500, the average mid-career salary is $80,900 in this area.

11. Mathematics

Being a mathematician basically means that you have to solve different problems using different methods, some of which you create yourself. There are various fields where a mathematician is needed, such as finance, economics, climatology, ecology, data mining, computer animation, systems biology and many more. With a mathematics degree, you can easily get a job in one of these areas, or you can simply be a math teacher. The average starting salary of mathematicians is $54,300, the average mid-career salary is $96,500.

10. Statistics

Being a statistician means that you analyze extremely large amounts of data using mathematical techniques. Similarly to being a mathematician, statisticians often develop their own methods to do their work more efficiently and to draw conclusions more easily. It is advised to specialize in a particular area, because it is often hard to work with lots of types of data in the same time; for example statisticians can work in healthcare, in manufacturing or for the government. Being a data analyst of a data scientist is also popular with a statistics degree. The average starting salary is $54,900, the average mid-career salary is $103,100 in this area.

9. Nursing

Nursing is a job that’s always needed. Even if you are working in a hospital or nursing somebody at home, you can expect a high salary. Your job will be to provide nursing and medical care to people in need, in other words, treating sick people back to health. You also have to communicate with the families of the patients, doing lots of paperwork and help the doctors in diagnosing illnesses. With a nursing degree you can settle in being a registered nurse, a licensed vocational nurse or a case manager. The starting salary of nursing is $56,900, the mid-career salary is $73,600.

8. Physics

Physics is a field that will always be examined by people. It relates to everything in the world, yet we haven’t even begin to understand it fully. Because of human curiosity, the studying of physics will always be permanent, so starting a major in this area is probably a good choice. Physics is a very complex field, so one man cannot see all of it in one piece. That’s why it’s inevitable to specialize in a subfield. You can choose from being an atomic, molecular and optical physicist, or be an astrophysicist, study particle and nuclear physics, medical physics or condensed matter physics. All of these fields are really important, so if you’re interested in even one of these, do not hesitate to learn and research for humanity’s sake. The average starting salary is $57,200, the average mid-career salary is $105,100 in this area.

7. Packaging Science

Are you interested in design, engineering, science, innovation and research? These fields can all be found in one: packaging science. Maybe this seems like a little dull or odd, but if you think about it, it’s a wonderful career opportunity and also a hole in the industry. Some people figured it out and now there are several schools that offer a packaging science major. As a packaging scientist, you will be working with package designs, graphics, food and health care packages, and advanced materials. This field is also connected with sales, purchasing, production, research, structural design, package development and marketing. The average starting salary is $61,500, the average mid-career salary is $88,100 in this area.

6. Software Engineering

Nowadays software engineers are needed almost everywhere. In this mediated world where the whole internet can fit in our pockets, everyday people need new and new technological development to satisfy their needs: responsive web design, new and more modern apps for several uses, the development of softwares to work efficiently… As a software engineer, basically you will develop and improve computer systems to meet the needs of the users. You will diagnose and resolve system faults, write diagnostic programs and design writing codes for operating systems and software to ensure efficiency. You can specialize for systems or applications, depending on what the firm you work at can offer. The average starting salary is $61,700, the average mid-career salary is $99,800 in this area.

5. Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace engineering deals with designing and buliding any machine that can fly. This is a whole new area, so the job market is not yet filled. It is worthwile to invest in this kind of area, because this foresees the future. There are two fields where you can specialize if you choose to study aerospace engineering: the first is the aeronautical engineering, which involves designing aircraft, and the second is the astronautical engineering (maybe you heard about it as rocket science), which handles the design and the development of spacecraft. The average starting salary is $64,800, the average mid-career salary is $107,000 in this area.

4. Dental Hygiene

Similarly to nursing, dental hygiene is an area where specialists are always needed. The main job of a dentist is to diagnose and treat problems of the teeth. They have to give advice to their patients about how to brush their teeth properly and how to prevent dental problems – and of course if there is already a problem, they fix it. If you want to have your own office, you will have some extra responsibilities such as administration and supervising staff. You can start with an average salary of $65,800, and have a mid-career salary of $72,800.

3. Computer Science

Computer science degrees are very popular these days. We can say that computer specialists are needed basically at every company, because nowadays every company has at least a website. With this degree, you can be a software engineer, a web developer, a systems engineer and so many more. The bottom line is that you will work with computers, computer systems or softwares, and you will be responsible for their functioning and development. But there are many other aspects of this profession. You can start with a salary of $66,700 and have a mid-career with a salary of $112,600.

2. Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineering is a field that applies a lot of sciences (e.g. physical sciences, microbiology, biochemistry, economics, applied mathematics) in order to produce, transform, transport and use chemicals, materials and energy. Modern chemical engineering handles pioneering valuable new materials and techniques such as nanotechnology, fuel cells and biomedical engineering. A chemical engineer designs large-scale processes that convert chemicals, raw materials, living cells, microorganisms and energy into useful forms. In other words, he researches for new products that can be commercialized. The average starting salary is $69,000, the average mid-career salary is $118,000 in this area.

1. Petroleum Engineering

…and we reached the top salary of all professions. Petroleum engineering is a really dangerous area, that’s why it offers a really big salary. Being a petroleum engineer you have to locate the natural reservoirs of the petroleum deposits. There are three types of petroleum engineers: reservoir engineers, who are responsible for finding the best strategic methods for extracting petroleum. There are drilling engineers who are responsible for the drilling formation and for the equipment used, and to do so, they use computer-simulated models. And there are production engineers who manage the machinery and the production costs. The average starting salary of this area is $102,300, and the average mid-career salary is $176,300.