Median Annual Earnings of Doctoral Degree Holders Employed Full-Time, by Field of Degree, 2018

Median Annual Earnings of Doctoral Degree Holders Employed Full-Time, by Field of Degree, 2018

Among those with PhDs in the humanities, median annual earnings ($80,000) were $20,000 higher than those of workers whose highest degree was a master’s in the field. Median earnings for humanities PhDs were identical to those of arts PhDs, but they were $24,000 below the median for PhDs generally and markedly lower than those of PhDs from business and engineering.

The range of earnings of humanities PhDs was narrower than all other fields in 2018, with a gap of less than $40,000 between the 25th and 75th percentiles in earnings. Workers at the 25th percentile made 63% of what their counterparts at the 75th percentile did ($66,000 versus $105,000). Among PhDs generally, the difference in earnings between the percentiles was $87,000 (with lower-earning workers making only 44% of their higher-earning counterparts). See the report website for information about the earning ranges found among degree holders in fields other than the humanities.32

Endnotes

• 32Ibid.