Earnings, Occupation and College Degree: A Focus on the Economics Major
Matthew Holian and Kevin Chiu
Abstract
This study explores the career paths of college graduates by major, using American Community
Survey microdata. We identify the most common occupations of mid-career workers with a
bachelors degree in economics, as well as the median income associated with each occupation.
The most common occupations for economics majors include managers, accountants, and
personal financial advisors. We also study the industries in which economics majors work, and
find 54.6% work in one of four industries: finance and insurance; professional, scientific and
technical services; manufacturing; and retail trade. Finally, we replicate previous findings on
average earnings by major, and carry out robustness checks. We confirm economics is a top-ten
high-earning major, and although we document self-employment rates vary considerably across
different majors, the ranking of income by major is not sensitive to whether the income measure
includes business income or only wage income.