Economics at Cornell University

Ithaca, NY · Bachelor's Degree · about 157 graduates a year

$84,967
Median pay 1 year after graduating
$137,935
Median pay 4 years after graduating
$82,686
National median for this major (4 yrs)
#12 of 368
Rank by pay
#13 of 368
Rank, wage-adjusted
$15,000
Median federal debt

Cornell University graduates in economics earn 67% more than the national median for the same major four years after graduating. Their median federal debt equals about 11% of one year’s pay at that point.

How Cornell University Compares for Economics

All 368 colleges reporting economics earnings at this degree level, ranked by median pay four years after graduation. “Wage-adjusted” divides pay by the square root of the state’s wage index so colleges in low-wage states aren’t penalized for local pay.

#College4 yrs afterWage-adjustedAdj. rank1 yr after
1Williams College Williamstown, MA$166,678$146,777#5$80,888
2Duke University Durham, NC$161,149$172,936#1$98,649
3Princeton University Princeton, NJ$160,763$141,099#6$103,041
4University of Chicago Chicago, IL$159,578$156,784#2$92,075
5Harvard University Cambridge, MA$155,592$137,015#8$103,993
6Dartmouth College Hanover, NH$152,929$140,863#7$94,675
7Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA$146,524$133,327#9$89,505
8Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA$144,886$147,350#4$86,284
9Yale University New Haven, CT$142,936$128,688#17$82,617
10Amherst College Amherst, MA$141,730$124,808#19$90,568
11Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN$140,337$153,303#3$84,311
12Cornell University Ithaca, NY$137,935$131,286#13$84,967
13Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY$137,710$131,071#14$83,135
14University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA$135,050$122,887#22$80,446
15Hamilton College Clinton, NY$130,633$124,336#20$71,350

Other Majors at Cornell University by Graduate Pay

Major4 yrs after1 yr afterRank in major
Computer Science$223,309$152,656#3 of 349
Operations Research$151,709$96,377—
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering$147,241$100,516#4 of 258
Agricultural Business and Management$145,218$92,163#1 of 77
Computer and Information Sciences$144,389$103,650#18 of 459
Mathematics$134,455$87,251#7 of 309
Engineering$128,207—#2 of 57
Public Policy Analysis$126,767$77,906#1 of 34
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology$124,242$78,358—
Physics$118,649$50,933#2 of 107
Chemical Engineering$116,165$85,578#4 of 158
Human Resources Management and Services$112,713$73,436#1 of 187
Hospitality Administration/Management$112,289$77,803#1 of 137
Mechanical Engineering$112,212$85,440#9 of 318
Statistics$111,090$82,531#8 of 50
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering$103,016$69,558#1 of 46
Agricultural Engineering$99,600$54,435#1 of 26
Area Studies$96,976$43,831#1 of 70
Political Science and Government$95,391$60,292#7 of 565
Apparel and Textiles$94,967—#1 of 57
Civil Engineering$91,242$80,261#47 of 233
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics$89,275$33,419#4 of 225
Communication and Media Studies$88,463$62,182#3 of 660
Biological and Biomedical Sciences$85,883$38,841#3 of 17
Food Science and Technology$84,147$64,062#2 of 29
History$82,031$44,706#9 of 459
Chemistry$79,311$28,372#22 of 209
Psychology$78,049$36,630#6 of 1027
Sociology$73,200$36,709#9 of 462
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services$73,066$38,401#1 of 172

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Cornell University economics graduates make?

Graduates earn a median $84,967 one year after graduating and $137,935 four years after graduating. Figures are from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

How does Cornell University rank for economics?

Among 368 colleges reporting earnings for economics graduates, Cornell University ranks #12 by median pay four years after graduation, and #13 after adjusting for state wage levels.

Is economics at Cornell University worth it?

Its graduates earn 67% more than the national median for economics ($82,686), and the median federal debt at graduation is $15,000.

← All data for Cornell University · Methodology

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study data. Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled; programs with few graduates are not reported. Wage adjustment uses Census ACS state median household income.