How satisfied are college graduates with their jobs?
In 2023, about 56.1 million employed U.S. college graduates (people with at least a bachelor’s degree) told the National Science Foundation’s National Survey of College Graduates how satisfied they were with their principal job. 44% said very satisfied, 46% somewhat satisfied, 8% somewhat dissatisfied and 2% very dissatisfied.
By broad group of occupations, the share very satisfied was 45% in science and engineering occupations, 44% in science-and-engineering-related occupations (such as health and managers in those fields) and 44% in other occupations.
By occupation group
Listed alphabetically; click a column heading to sort, and shift-click more headings to sort by several columns as a group. These are groups of occupations as the survey defines them, which are broader than the careers on MajorPays. A dash means NSF withheld the figure to protect privacy or because the estimate is unreliable. Groups with fewer than 30,000 employed graduates are left out because their shares are too noisy.
| Occupation group | Broad group | Employed graduates (thousands) | Very satisfied | Somewhat satisfied | Somewhat dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineers | S&E occupations | 181 | 56% | 40% | 3% | – |
| Agricultural and food scientists | S&E occupations | 74 | 34% | 59% | 7% | – |
| Art, humanities, and related occupations | Non-S&E occupations | 1,671 | 44% | 43% | 10% | 2% |
| Biological and medical scientists | S&E occupations | 552 | 45% | 46% | 6% | 2% |
| Chemical engineers | S&E occupations | 80 | 48% | 42% | 5% | – |
| Chemists, except biochemists | S&E occupations | 129 | 43% | 47% | 8% | 2% |
| Civil, architectural, and sanitary engineers | S&E occupations | 324 | 48% | 45% | 6% | – |
| Computer and information scientists | S&E occupations | 4,154 | 44% | 47% | 8% | 1% |
| Earth, atmospheric, and ocean scientists | S&E occupations | 143 | 48% | 46% | 6% | 1% |
| Economists | S&E occupations | 47 | 55% | 34% | 9% | – |
| Electrical and computer hardware engineers | S&E occupations | 501 | 49% | 43% | 5% | 2% |
| Environmental life scientists | S&E occupations | 60 | 40% | 47% | 12% | – |
| Health-related occupations | S&E-related occupations | 7,102 | 44% | 47% | 7% | 2% |
| Industrial engineers | S&E occupations | 107 | 40% | 45% | – | – |
| Management-related occupations | Non-S&E occupations | 6,165 | 47% | 44% | 7% | 2% |
| Mathematical scientists | S&E occupations | 318 | 45% | 46% | 8% | 1% |
| Mechanical engineers | S&E occupations | 424 | 40% | 51% | 7% | 1% |
| Non-S&E managers | Non-S&E occupations | 6,016 | 55% | 40% | 5% | 1% |
| Non-S&E postsecondary teachers | Non-S&E occupations | 601 | 44% | 47% | 7% | 1% |
| Non-S&E precollege teachers | Non-S&E occupations | 4,083 | 34% | 54% | 8% | 4% |
| Other engineers | S&E occupations | 581 | 46% | 46% | 7% | 1% |
| Other non-S&E occupations | Non-S&E occupations | 10,539 | 40% | 47% | 10% | 3% |
| Other physical and related scientists, including astronomers | S&E occupations | 45 | 40% | 47% | 7% | – |
| Other S&E-related occupations | S&E-related occupations | 291 | 58% | 36% | 5% | 0% |
| Other social and related scientists | S&E occupations | 178 | 40% | 46% | 11% | – |
| Physicists | S&E occupations | 45 | 53% | 42% | 2% | – |
| Political scientists | S&E occupations | 38 | 50% | 29% | – | – |
| Postsecondary teachers - computer and math sciences | S&E occupations | 101 | 44% | 45% | 11% | – |
| Postsecondary teachers - engineering | S&E occupations | 66 | 44% | 50% | 6% | – |
| Postsecondary teachers - life and related sciences | S&E occupations | 127 | 49% | 44% | 6% | – |
| Postsecondary teachers - physical and related sciences | S&E occupations | 69 | 35% | 57% | 6% | – |
| Postsecondary teachers - social and related sciences | S&E occupations | 202 | 42% | 47% | 9% | – |
| Psychologists | S&E occupations | 132 | 52% | 39% | 5% | – |
| S&E managers | S&E-related occupations | 1,485 | 50% | 43% | 6% | 2% |
| S&E precollege teachers | S&E-related occupations | 793 | 38% | 52% | 7% | 3% |
| S&E technicians and technologists | S&E-related occupations | 1,581 | 39% | 48% | 11% | 2% |
| Sales and marketing occupations | Non-S&E occupations | 4,560 | 41% | 46% | 9% | 4% |
| Social services and related occupations | Non-S&E occupations | 2,462 | 50% | 41% | 7% | 2% |
What these numbers do not tell you
- They are by occupation, not by what someone studied. The survey tables do not show satisfaction by major, so this page cannot say how satisfied graduates of a given major are.
- Satisfaction is what people said about their own job. It depends on pay, hours, people, place and many other things, and the differences between groups are often small. Different jobs suit different people.
- These are survey estimates for 2023, rounded by NSF, and they describe groups, not any one person. Small groups carry more sampling error.
- MajorPays does not rank occupations or imply that a lower share means a worse job.
Source
U.S. National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), National Survey of College Graduates 2023, Table 3-2 (employed college graduates by employment sector, occupation and job satisfaction; “All sectors”). Courtesy: U.S. National Science Foundation. MajorPays calculated the percentages from NSF’s counts and listed the occupation groups alphabetically; NSF has not approved or endorsed this presentation. MajorPays does not provide advice. See Data sources and Questions and answers.