Six college degrees in healthcare are among the lowest paying, according to an Aug. 2 LinkedIn post from personal finance website WalletHub.
The ranking includes the 40 college majors with the lowest median mid-career wages, according to 2024 data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Health system human resources leaders told Becker’s in March that they are becoming more strategic about where compensation dollars are allocated amid persistent shortages in clinical specialties and ongoing budget constraints. Rather than spreading raises broadly, systems are targeting pharmacy, behavioral health, nursing, respiratory therapy, advanced practice providers and diagnostic imaging roles — those hardest to recruit or retain, leaders said.
Here are the healthcare degrees that made the list, along with their rank out of 40 and median wage mid-career:
11. Health services — $67,000
12. Nutrition sciences — $70,000
13. Treatment therapy — $70,000
14. Psychology — $72,000
34. Medical technicians — $80,000
39. Pharmacy — $85,000
