The Best and Worst Job Growth by Field of Study: How Majors Like Mathematics, Healthcare, and Education Compare

The field you study in college can lead to a half-dozen different careers—and the latest government projections show those paths can grow at very different rates.

Mathematics is a case in point. The most common job for mathematicians is software developer, an occupation expected to grow 16% from 2024 to 2034, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The same degree also feeds two of the decade's fastest-growing jobs—data scientists (34%) and actuaries (22%)—each climbing faster than the field's most common destination.1

While outcomes aren't guaranteed for each student, the median early-career wage for mathematics graduates is about $70,000 a year. That's about $12,000 above the $58,000 median for all recent college graduates, according to the New York Federal Reserve.2

The gaps are even wider across other fields of study. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts how fast each occupation will grow over the coming decade and sorts those projections by the typical college fields of study. Across the 31 fields it tracks, some lead to jobs projected to grow by roughly a third, while others point toward work that's already contracting.

Recent college graduates are struggling to find jobs after graduation, as workforce changes and economic uncertainty shrink the number of entry-level positions. Current and future college students who choose a major that is more likely to lead to a job could have an easier time affording the lifestyle they want.

Other high-growth occupations include information security analysts and medical and health services managers.

Employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 29% through 2034.3 These analysts generally graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science, information sciences, or computer administration/management.

Employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow by 23%; these workers typically hold degrees in healthcare, public policy, social services, or science and technology.4

Management is the most common occupation in 11 of those fields, and employment is projected to grow just 4% through 2034. But a slow growth rate isn't the same as a shortage of jobs: a large, established field can add more positions than a fast-growing niche simply because it starts from a bigger base.

General and operations managers, who earn a median salary of about $103,000, according to the BLS, are projected to see about 308,700 openings a year—the most of any job that typically requires a bachelor's degree—as retirements and career changes open vacancies hidden by the growth rate.5

Managers are found across a variety of fields, making it the most common occupation in 11 of the 31 fields of degrees tracked. The median annual wage for a manager in 2024 was $136,550, and the manager occupation is projected to grow by 4% through 2034.6

Another of the most common occupations for bachelor's degree holders, teaching, is straightforward for most graduates, as they need only pass a state certification test. However, teaching ranks among the slowest-growing options in nearly every field of study. In 24 of the 31 fields the BLS tracks, the lowest-growth job graduates commonly enter is elementary or secondary school teaching, which is projected to decline by 2% from 2024 to 2034.

That decline doesn't mean that avenue is closed to job seekers. Retirements and career changes keep the field hiring: kindergarten and elementary teachers are projected to have about 103,800 openings a year. Graduates set on teaching can find faster growth higher up the ladder: postsecondary teaching positions are projected to grow about 7% from 2024 to 2034.7