Top 7 Highest Paying Bachelors Degree Jobs

After spending a period of four-plus in addition to extra years of school and thousands of dollars (or more) in college loans, all college graduates aspire for the kind of job and lifestyle they imagine their bachelor’s degree will afford them.

Typically, new grads should expect to make $60,000 in their first job post college, and while that number might sound a bit high — it is estimated that most earn amounts closer to $50,000 — while a few others will eventually get there over time. It’s worth adding that bachelor’s degree holders earn a median weekly pay of $1,173, or about $60,996 a year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And that’s alot more than a worker with just an associate degree or high school diploma will earn, but usually $35,000 or lower than what a typical degree holder earns annually.

Inorder to help applicants get the most out of their job search,our team has carefully analyzed and collated data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to highlight careers that pay workers the most while requiring just a bachelor’s degree for a start. 

That said, if you desire to earn well into the six-figure range with your undergraduate degree, take a look at some of these 10 jobs:

Purchasing managers

Average salary: $118,940

Projected increase through 2026: 5 percent

Individuals in this position basically oversee and manage the activities of a company’s buyers and purchasing agents or the people responsible for buying products and services for a company to use or resell. They are responsible for coordinating suppliers, interviewing vendors and visiting suppliers’ plants and distribution groups,as well as negotiating contracts, and showing up at meetings and trade events to understand  new and trending industry standards. Additionally, their responsibility cuts across maintaining and reviewing records of items bought, costs, deliveries, product performance, and inventories, developing their company’s purchase policies and procedures, and onboarding new staff.

Compensation and benefits managers

Average annual pay: $121,010

Projected increase through 2026: 5 percent

Your responsibility is to develop and deploy your company’s programs for compensating workers. What this means is that you’ll be responsible for setting an organization’s pay and benefits structure, in addition to determining competitive wage rates to apply. You will also select and manage external partners, such as benefits vendors, insurance brokers and investment managers, and ensure that pay and benefit plans are inline with federal and state rules.

Natural sciences managers

Average Annual salary: $123,860

Projected increase through 2026: 10 percent

You will supervise the work of scientists, such as chemists, physicists and biologists to mention a few. You will work directly with them in managing research and development activities and coordinating all testing, quality control, and production processes. As a natural sciences manager, you will also work with executives in the organization to determine the goals for researchers or developers on staff, design a budget for projects, review staff members’ methodology and the accuracy of research results that are submitted, and present project proposals, plus research findings, in addition to the status of projects to paying clients and top management.

Sales managers

Average annual salary: $124,220

Projected increase through 2026: 7 percent

Sales managers are responsible for managing l a company’s sales teams, you are expected to assign sales territories and determine sales goals or quotas for teams, develop training courses for an organizations’ sales representatives, sort out customer complaints regarding sales and service, project sales and work on the profitability of products and services. You will also assess customer preferences, and design strategies for getting new clients. You will also work closely with managers from other departments in the company, such as marketing or research and design.

Financial managers

Median annual pay: $127,990

Projected job growth through 2026: 19 percent

You task is to look after the financial health of a company. You will put together financial reports, direct investment activities, ensure that all legal requirements are duly met and on time, in addition to developing strategies and plans for the long-term financial health of your company. Because of technological advances that have reduced the amount of time needed to produce financial reports, many financial managers now do more data analysis and advise senior managers on ways to maximize profits.

Marketing managers

Average annual salary: $134,290

Projected increase through 2026: 10 percent

Fully understanding the need or demand for the product or services an organization sells to the public is the manager’s primary job. It is your responsibility to identify new clients interested in the company’s products and design a simple pricing model that will maximize profits and market share while keeping customers and all shareholders satisfied. You will work closely with sales, public relations and product development staff to analyze topics such as budgets and contracts, marketing plans and the selection of advertising content.

Petroleum engineers

Average annual salary: $137,170

Projected increase through 2026: 15 percent

You will design and develop methods for extracting oil and gas from onshore and offshore underground reserves in addition to  finding new ways to do the same from older well reserves. Your task will also include designing equipment used to extract fossil fuels and ensure it is installed and operated the right way. In addition, you will create the plan for how to drill in these oil fields and extract the oil, discover ways to inject water, chemicals, gases or steam into an oil reserve to extract more oil or gas, and finally evaluate well production. You will work closely with geoscientists and other specialists to fully understand the rock or other formation with fuel deposit.