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By Suzanne Blake
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Biology is one of the most popular college majors in the United States, but new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows it also comes with one of the lowest starting salaries for recent graduates.
According to the New York Fed’s Labor Market for Recent College Graduates database, biology majors earn a median early‑career wage of about $45,000, placing them near the bottom among dozens of commonly pursued majors. Early career is defined as workers between the ages of 22 and 27.
Why It Matters
The earnings gap for biology majors reveals that popular and academically demanding majors do not always translate into strong pay right after graduation. This matters because early‑career income often determines whether graduates can comfortably manage rent, loan payments, and basic living expenses in the years immediately after college.
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What To Know
Biology consistently ranks among the most commonly awarded undergraduate degrees in the U.S., often serving as a gateway major for students interested in medicine, research, public health, and environmental science.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that biological and biomedical sciences are one of the six most common fields for bachelor’s degrees nationwide. In the 2021–22 academic year, U.S. colleges awarded approximately 131,500 bachelor’s degrees in biological and biomedical sciences.
Despite its popularity, the New York Fed’s data shows biology majors earn less early in their careers than in many non‑STEM fields, including business, communications, and some social sciences. Only a handful of majors, such as anthropology and fine arts, had lower early‑career median wages.
The unemployment rate for recent biology graduates is about 4.3 percent, roughly in line with the national average for new college graduates, suggesting that jobs are available but often not high‑paying at the outset.
While biology majors struggle at the starting gate, their salary outcomes improve significantly over time.
By mid‑career, which is defined by the New York Fed as ages 35 to 45, biology majors earn a median wage of about $83,000, placing them squarely in the middle of the pack compared with other majors.
That mid‑career figure is nearly double the early‑career median, reflecting steady earnings growth as workers gain experience or obtain advanced degrees.
One key factor behind biology’s long‑term earnings potential is education beyond a bachelor’s degree.
Biology is often a stepping‑stone major for medical school, graduate research programs, pharmacy, and other health‑related professions. In contrast, majors like engineering and computer science tend to offer much higher starting salaries but narrower long‑term growth for those who remain in similar roles.
What People Are Saying
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “While some may be surprised by biology majors having starting salaries that lag behind its peer areas, the reality is for most entering the field, biology is usually a starting point more than an ending one. While median pay for positions like biological technicians the major can unlock often fall in the $50,000 range for yearly income, that number can double for biochemists and biomedical engineers.”
Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek: “Despite being one of the ‘Hard Sciences,’ the typical Biology major includes too broad a course of study to be desirable in world that rewards specialization. Biology is a field that requires advanced degrees, often to the PhD level, and it is often the base education for many MDs and DDSs.”
What Happens Next
As students plan for college, experts say biology is a clear example of a major where short‑term pay may disappoint, but the long‑term earning potential remains very real.
“If I were giving the Commencement Address at a School of Biology, it would go something like, ‘Class of 2026, Congratulations, you have earned your degree. You now know more about living things than 99 percent of the population, but it’s still not enough to get you a job,'” Powers said.
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