30 best paying college majors: 2014

With college graduation season upon us, it’s again time to take a look at which majors garner the most pay.

For all of the jobs in the Top 30, starting pay was up over last year. Engineering and science occupations continued their stranglehold on the top third of the rankings. For the record, still coming in dead last is Child and Family Studies with a starting salary of $30,300 and a mid-career salary (15 years in) of $37,200.

In 2012, our sister site ThinkAdvisor looked at which degrees were paying the most. This year, as they did in 2013, they drilled down into specific majors using data from payscale.com. Payscale lists 129 majors on its site.

The rankings below are based on data collected from 1,000 universities and include graduates with bachelor’s degrees only. The universities surveyed include 88% of U.S. schools with an enrollment of more than 5,000.

Take a look at the 30 Best Paying College Majors for 2014:

30. Mathematics

Starting Salary: $49,400

Mid-Career Salary: $88,800 (22nd, tie)

29. Information Technology

Starting Salary: $49,900

Mid-Career Salary: $84,100 (30th, tie)

28. Economics

Starting Salary: $50,100

Mid-Career Salary: $96,700 (15th)

27. Occupational Health and Safety

Starting Salary: $50,500

Mid-Career Salary: $80,300 (40th)

26 (tie). Computer Information Systems

Starting Salary: $50,800

Mid-Career Salary: $87,400 (25th)

26 (tie). Industrial Technology

Salary: $50,800

Mid-Career Salary: $81,500 (37th)

24. Construction Management

Starting Salary: $51,500

Mid-Career Salary: $88,800 (22nd, tie)

23. Information Systems

Starting Salary: $51,900

Mid-Career Salary: $87,200 (26th)

22. Statistics

Starting Salary: $52,500

Mid-Career Salary: $98,900 (13th)

21 (tie). Applied Mathematics

Starting Salary: $52,800

Mid-Career Salary: $96,200 (16th)

  

21 (tie). Supply Chain Management

Starting Salary: $52,800

Mid-Career Salary: $83,700 (34th , tie)

19. Physics

Starting Salary: $53,100

Mid-Career Salary: $101,100 (9th)

18. Management Information Systems

Starting Salary: $53,800

Mid-Career Salary: $92,200 (18th)

17. Mechanical Engineering Technology

Starting Salary: $54,100

Mid-Career Salary: $84,000 (32nd, tie)

16. Civil Engineering

Starting Salary: $54,300

Mid-Career Salary: $91,100 (20th)