Smart major choice
Most lucrative majors for the next 10 years
Ranked with a Bayesian model that combines a curated long-run prior (BLS-style salary bands, employment growth, labor demand) with a monthly market signal. Add your academic strengths and the recommendation switches to your posterior fit probability.
Pre-Med / Biomedical Sciences
Health
Long training, top payoff. Salary reflects post-MD income; undergrad alone earns much less.
Posterior median salary
$210,000
80% CI $134,097–$328,866
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
69%
Labor demand posterior
81%
Computer Science
STEM
Software engineering, ML, systems. Highest demand cluster; volatile hiring cycles.
Posterior median salary
$122,000
80% CI $85,216–$174,662
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
80%
Labor demand posterior
84%
Cybersecurity
STEM
Structural under-supply; certifications accelerate entry.
Posterior median salary
$115,000
80% CI $84,551–$156,414
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
87%
Labor demand posterior
86%
Data Science & Statistics
STEM
Statistical modelling, ML pipelines, analytics. Rising demand across industries.
Posterior median salary
$112,000
80% CI $80,262–$156,288
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
83%
Labor demand posterior
80%
Pharmacy (PharmD track)
Health
Stable licensed salary; retail vs clinical split is widening.
Posterior median salary
$130,000
80% CI $107,265–$157,554
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
50%
Labor demand posterior
64%
Electrical Engineering
STEM
Chips, power, embedded. Strong in energy transition and hardware AI.
Posterior median salary
$108,000
80% CI $79,405–$146,893
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
69%
Labor demand posterior
71%
Nursing (BSN)
Health
Shortage-driven demand; strong wage floor and geographic mobility.
Posterior median salary
$86,000
80% CI $70,056–$105,572
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
81%
Labor demand posterior
90%
Finance
Business
Bimodal outcomes: median comfortable, top decile very high.
Posterior median salary
$96,000
80% CI $63,704–$144,668
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
65%
Labor demand posterior
68%
Mechanical Engineering
STEM
Design, robotics, manufacturing. Broadest engineering placement.
Posterior median salary
$98,000
80% CI $73,923–$129,919
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
58%
Labor demand posterior
62%
Chemical Engineering
STEM
Process, materials, energy. Steady but narrower job pool.
Posterior median salary
$106,000
80% CI $79,958–$140,524
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
50%
Labor demand posterior
54%
Civil Engineering
STEM
Infrastructure, transport, water. Public-spend cycles drive demand.
Posterior median salary
$92,000
80% CI $71,199–$118,878
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
55%
Labor demand posterior
58%
Mathematics
STEM
Feeds finance, actuarial, ML. High salary spread by specialization.
Posterior median salary
$94,000
80% CI $65,658–$134,576
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
57%
Labor demand posterior
52%
Economics
Business
Quant-heavy paths pay best; consulting/finance is the standard exit.
Posterior median salary
$88,000
80% CI $59,912–$129,257
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
59%
Labor demand posterior
61%
Supply Chain & Operations
Business
Post-2021 reshoring boom; steady mid-career salaries.
Posterior median salary
$82,000
80% CI $63,460–$105,957
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
65%
Labor demand posterior
71%
Skilled Trades — Electrical / HVAC / Welding
Trades & Applied
Retirement wave + reshoring = severe shortage. Non-degree path with strong wages.
Posterior median salary
$72,000
80% CI $54,311–$95,450
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
77%
Labor demand posterior
83%
Accounting
Business
Licensure (CPA) is the main lever. AI is compressing entry-level work.
Posterior median salary
$78,000
80% CI $60,364–$100,788
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
55%
Labor demand posterior
67%
Physics
STEM
Foundational; strong graduate-school pipeline into quant and research.
Posterior median salary
$92,000
80% CI $62,635–$135,132
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
45%
Labor demand posterior
41%
Public Health
Health
Policy and epidemiology roles; grew post-2020.
Posterior median salary
$72,000
80% CI $54,311–$95,450
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
65%
Labor demand posterior
65%
Design (UX / Graphic / Industrial)
Arts & Humanities
Product/UX roles pay well; visual-only roles compressed by tooling.
Posterior median salary
$80,000
80% CI $55,879–$114,533
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
57%
Labor demand posterior
54%
Chemistry
STEM
Pharma, materials, energy. Lab-heavy career start.
Posterior median salary
$80,000
80% CI $58,818–$108,810
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
45%
Labor demand posterior
46%
Marketing
Business
Data/growth marketing pays well; brand roles slower to grow.
Posterior median salary
$72,000
80% CI $52,937–$97,929
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
50%
Labor demand posterior
60%
Biology
STEM
Wide field; earnings depend heavily on graduate training.
Posterior median salary
$72,000
80% CI $49,019–$105,756
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
46%
Labor demand posterior
42%
Political Science & Policy
Social
Feeder into law, gov, NGO. Undergrad-only wages modest.
Posterior median salary
$68,000
80% CI $46,295–$99,880
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
45%
Labor demand posterior
46%
Education / Teaching
Social
High demand; pay ceiling is district- and location-bound.
Posterior median salary
$58,000
80% CI $47,247–$71,200
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
50%
Labor demand posterior
69%
Communication & Media
Arts & Humanities
Wide job pool; AI is reshaping the writing-heavy roles quickly.
Posterior median salary
$64,000
80% CI $45,864–$89,308
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
42%
Labor demand posterior
46%
Psychology
Social
Weak bachelor's-only market; graduate degree unlocks clinical wages.
Posterior median salary
$60,000
80% CI $41,909–$85,900
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
50%
Labor demand posterior
44%
English & Literature
Arts & Humanities
Skill portable but market crowded; strong for law/PR pipelines.
Posterior median salary
$58,000
80% CI $40,512–$83,036
10-yr growth (Beta posterior)
30%
Labor demand posterior
36%
How this is computed
- Salary posterior: Normal–Normal update on ln(annual salary) — a curated prior combined with the month's AI market signal (variance widens as the snapshot ages).
- Growth & demand posteriors: Beta updates on employment-growth and labor-demand signals framed as successes vs failures.
- Fit posterior: Beta(1,1) prior + evidence from the cosine similarity between your 8-dim strength vector and each major's weight vector.
- Monthly refresh: point a cron / scheduler at
POST /api/public/cron/rerank-majorswith the project anon key in theapikeyheader.