Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 819 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 518 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 501 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 859 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 825 | 0.00% |
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $64,407 | $30.96 | +2.6% |
| 2025 | $62,758 | $30.17 | +1.7% |
| 2024 | $61,729 | $29.68 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | $60,749 | $29.21 | +3.1% |
| 2022 | $58,918 | $28.33 | +1.8% |
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 373 | 54% |
| 2 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,050 | 12% |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 744 | 11% |
| 4 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 598 | 10% |
| 5 | Delaware | 961,939 | 99 | 10% |
| 6 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 513 | 9% |
| 7 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,021 | 8% |
| 8 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 595 | 8% |
| 9 | Alaska | 739,795 | 57 | 8% |
| 10 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 697 | 7% |
| 11 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 397 | 7% |
| 12 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 253 | 7% |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 72 | 7% |
| 14 | Vermont | 623,657 | 45 | 7% |
| 15 | California | 39,536,653 | 2,531 | 6% |
| 16 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,266 | 6% |
| 17 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 444 | 6% |
| 18 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 263 | 6% |
| 19 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 180 | 6% |
| 20 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 32 | 6% |
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $53,797 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $70,404 |
| 3 | Dover | 1 | 3% | $72,359 |
| 4 | Juneau | 1 | 3% | $63,221 |
| 5 | Lombard | 1 | 2% | $61,819 |
| 6 | Scottsdale | 2 | 1% | $75,946 |
| 7 | Urban Honolulu | 2 | 1% | $58,276 |
| 8 | Hartford | 1 | 1% | $65,777 |
| 9 | Lansing | 1 | 1% | $60,439 |
| 10 | Little Rock | 1 | 1% | $50,661 |
| 11 | Phoenix | 2 | 0% | $76,022 |
| 12 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $56,837 |
| 13 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $52,087 |
| 14 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $81,303 |
| 15 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $68,941 |
| 16 | Des Moines | 1 | 0% | $59,055 |
| 17 | Indianapolis | 1 | 0% | $61,110 |

UMass Lowell
University of Southern Maine
Western Kentucky University
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Manhattan College
Drexel University
Wake Forest University
University of Oregon
American University
Georgia Southern University
Pacific Lutheran University

University of California, Irvine

Adelphi University

Ohio State University

UMass Lowell
Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Michael Ciuchta Ph.D.: Obviously we are seeing a tremendous increase in AI and other digital technologies. These will become a more crucial skill set for many careers going forward. But I wouldn't downplay the role of what are traditionally seen as soft skills like empathy, communications, and judgment. Not only can these distinguish you from robots but from your human competitors as well.
Michael Ciuchta Ph.D.: If all you want is the highest potential starting salary, then you should aim for careers that offer them. But that is a shortsighted way to view things. For example, many careers that have tournament-like pay structures (think entertainment) often have very low starting salaries but the so-called winners enjoy outsized financial gains. If you are thinking about a more traditional career, I think it's important to make sure you are more valuable to your employer than they are to you. This means you have to market yourself, both to your current employer as well as to potential ones. Of course, this approach may not be for everyone and maximizing your salary potential is only one thing you should be considering when assessing job and career opportunities.
University of Southern Maine
Specialized Sales, Merchandising And Marketing Operations
Tove Rasmussen: Tove Rasmussen advises graduates beginning their career in the field to...
Timothy Rich PhD: Think about the types of jobs that interest you and the skills necessary for those jobs early. So many students start thinking about post-graduation life spring their senior year, when it should be an incremental process much earlier. Another pieces of advice would be to talk to faculty and alum about your interests, find internship or research opportunities when possible, and try to figure out early your strengths and weaknesses. It's easy for students, especially high performing ones, to not fully consider what their weaknesses are. I encourage students to jot down what they see as their skills too and to share them with others. It helps them to identify what's a common skill versus something that might make them stick out.
Dr. Paige Novak P.E. (Minnesota), BCEE: Ask questions, stay curious and open minded, take opportunities to learn and develop new skills.
Dr. Natalia Boliari PhD: First, learn everything about the company you just started working for - its historical path, management, the way it's dealt with crises, etc. Second, learn everything about the specific industry the company belongs to and see how the company has developed relative to the development of the industry domestically and internationally. Third, always be extremely alert to notice new opportunities and be prepared to take calculated risks. That is, actively look for opportunities to complete as many and diverse tasks as possible, and volunteer to complete any type of work regardless of whether it seems relevant to your assigned job or not. Opportunities to learn, grow, and improve and thus to maximize your income, will only come up if you are exposed to diverse situations.
Dr. Natalia Boliari PhD: Be open minded. Finance is the broad definition of an industry which provides opportunities for careers in financial consultancy, financial analysis, stock brokerage, foreign investment, modeling, exchange rate forecasts, and many more. While most of those careers are attributed to the banking industry, you can find those and others in other sectors of the economy, such as insurance, technology, health care/medical, government, and so on. So, be open and look beyond the banking sector, examine the current and predicted trends in the economy to hunt for exciting career options.
Mark Stehr PhD: At the start of your career, it's very important to land a role where you learn a lot and find good mentors. The additional skills will pay dividends as your career progresses.
Dr. Mark Evans: Don't stop learning. Treat your first job like more graduate school. Learn everything you can.
University of Oregon
Finance And Financial Management Services
Z. Jay Wang: Students who have a history of doing work in the field outside the classroom either through internships, industry projects, or school-sponsored clubs managing financial decisions are better poised to maximize starting salary potential. Starting early to secure internships with top companies will also position students well for higher earning potential. Most top banks and firms will post internships from April/May to August, and close by the end of September for the following summer. They are also rolling, so may fill the roles by as early as June of the sophomore year for the following summer after junior year. Finally, networking with industry and alumni professionals in the companies, firms, banks prior to applying for an internship or full-time position will have an impact. The candidate will learn more about the opportunity and company culture for their resume and potential interview, and most top companies in finance will have a referral program. If the candidate impresses the internal connection with excellent questions and strategic answers, they may get a referral that moves them up in the stacks of applicants.
American University
Finance And Financial Management Services
Octavian Ionici PhD: The finance profession is lucrative, rewarding and very competitive. Graduates should do their research about the organization they are interviewing with and be able to discuss how their skills can contribute to the business. They should also know if they would rather interact with people and clients or if they are drawn to intellectual pursuits such as analysis. Do they value power, prestige status, risk, or something else? Ultimately our core values, personal goals, interests, aptitudes, and personality will shape our career paths.
Being able to articulate what sparked their interest in the financial field and why they are interested in a chosen role will be an advantage during the hiring process. While still in college, students should join a professional association like the Financial Management Association to give them more access to that broad network, as well as access to career development resources that can set them apart from the crowd.
It's also critical to get an internship (paid or unpaid) in order to show some real-life experience. They can do this while they are still in college, during the summers, or even afterwards, to get a foot in the door.
Reading the WSJ and FT daily, and listening to Bloomberg, or other financial programs as a regular practice will help them to have fluency in the language of our profession. Because the finance sector is heavily regulated and changes occur due to changing economic and political conditions, they will need to stay updated with those changes. Financial media sources will help bring them that context to stay up to date on all of these moving parts.
Dr. Kimberly Gaither: Maximize your salary potential by asking questions and learning as quickly as possible. Be a good communicator with those above and below you as well as your peers. Be dependable. Persons who show up early and work hard will be valued and rewarded.
Georgia Southern University
International Relations And National Security Studies
Dr. Jacek Lubecki: The field of international studies encompassed a dramatic diversity of jobs: one can work for a private international business, the State Department, the CIA, etc. Knowledge of foreign languages and cultures, ability to write, speak and present on various topics easily, and general education about both the US and international realm are essential skills. Flexibility and ability to learn new things are the central functional skills.
Dr. Jacek Lubecki: IA and technology skills will become more important.
Dr. Jacek Lubecki: Private sector should generally command higher salaries, but the real deal is to start in a field where experience and growth commands higher salaries, not to count on high salaries right away.
Pacific Lutheran University
Finance And Financial Management Services
Fang Lin: Don't be afraid to negotiate your starting salary. Young journalists have a lot to offer newsrooms through social media skills and a willingness to adapt to new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Technology skills have value and should not be undersold. Also, young journalism students should not discount the value of their student media and internship experiences. Young journalists must use everything on their resumes to show how they bring value to their position and ask to be compensated fairly for the work they will contribute to the newsroom's success.

University of California, Irvine
Urban Planning and Public Policy
David Feldman Ph.D.: Succinct writing, critical thinking, strong quantitative analytical skills.

Adelphi University
Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences
Hanna Kim Ph.D.: Hard skills: being more than monolingual! In a globally connected marketplace where young people worldwide are learning and mastering the English language, their multilingualism makes them attractive hires for multinational or international companies. Anthropology students know the non-negotiable importance of knowing a fieldwork language to understand peoples and their cultures. The same would hold for the workplace: knowing one or more languages affords an employee not just possibilities for work assignments: such an employee, i.e., an anthropology graduate who values the connection of language and culture, is ideally suited to work on projects that demand sensitivity to cultural, social, historical, and political nuances. This includes those who work in international humanitarian groups as well as those who work in global finance.

Ohio State University
Mershon Center for International Security Studies
Trey Billing Ph.D.: Technological progress in recent years has dramatically increased the availability of data across the board. While STEM fields have the technical skills to work with this data, STEM graduates often lack the contextual, theoretical, and ethical training standard in social science programs. Therefore, I envision a growing demand for international relations graduates with skills usually associated with STEM programs (e.g., statistics, programming) that are also well-versed in classic social-scientific issues.
Trey Billing Ph.D.: The Coronavirus pandemic underscores that while global problems may have technical answers, in theory, the implementation of these answers will always be subject to political and social dynamics. I imagine that this will remind those in the policy world that technical solutions' performance requires a deep understanding of political and social challenges that graduates of international relations programs might bring.