This page shows what graduates with a bachelor's degree in Food Science and Technology earn four years after graduating, what they typically owe, the schools that report these figures (listed alphabetically), and the occupations linked to this field by the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk. It covers 28 reporting units (schools, or groups of campuses that report together) with these figures.
Schools reporting earnings for Food Science and Technology graduates
Listed alphabetically to start; MajorPays does not rank schools. Click a column heading to sort; shift-click more headings to sort by several columns as a group. Median earnings four years after graduation, bachelor's degree, for programs with at least 30 graduates measured (19 reporting units; campuses that share one federal school ID report together and appear once). Schools with fewer graduates in the major, or whose figure the Department of Education withholds, are not listed.
| School | State | Median earnings, 4 years after | Graduates measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State University | NC | $53,369 | 31 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | CA | $75,466 | 92 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona | CA | $75,601 | 35 |
| California State University-Fresno | CA | $64,225 | 54 |
| Clemson University | SC | $63,501 | 49 |
| Cornell University | NY | $84,147 | 31 |
| Iowa State University | IA | $65,943 | 48 |
| Kansas State University | KS | $78,367 | 48 |
| Michigan State University | MI | $70,380 | 44 |
| Oregon State University | OR | $63,531 | 35 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | $83,112 | 52 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | $80,979 | 33 |
| The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | TN | $68,114 | 40 |
| University of California-Davis | CA | $70,571 | 97 |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | $66,226 | 82 |
| University of Maine | ME | $56,861 | 32 |
| University of Maryland-College Park | MD | $73,677 | 36 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | $80,161 | 41 |
| Washington State University | WA | $68,719 | 35 |
See every school that awarded bachelor's degrees in Food Science and Technology in 2023-24, including schools that do not report earnings, with the number of degrees awarded (IPEDS Completions).
Occupations O*NET associates with this field
Occupations that U.S. Department of Labor O*NET data links to Food Science and Technology programs, with each occupation's national median pay, projected job growth and yearly openings. They are listed in the order O*NET links them to this field; click a column heading to sort. This is a classification crosswalk, not evidence that graduates enter these jobs, and many of these occupations require more education, a license or experience beyond this credential. The figures describe the occupation, not the graduates of this major.
| Career | Median pay, 2025 | Projected growth, 2025–2035 | Openings per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Scientists and Technologists | $88,720 | +6.2% | 1,000 |
| Food Science Technicians | $52,130 | +4.8% | 3,000 |
| Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary | $98,700 | +2.9% | 800 |
| Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | $51,610 | -5.7% | 5,200 |
| Food Batchmakers | $42,290 | +6.5% | 23,100 |
| Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers | $89,900 | -3.4% | 70,800 |
| Soil and Plant Scientists | $78,850 | +6.7% | 1,400 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers | $59,320 | +3.8% | 7,200 |
Frequently asked questions
Does a Food Science and Technology degree pay off?
Graduates with a bachelor's degree in Food Science and Technology earn a median of $70,873 four years after graduating, and typically owe about $21,000 in federal loans. Earnings four years out are early-career pay, and they vary widely by school, job and place. Compare the pay with the cost of your own school on its graduate earnings page.
How much do college graduates earn overall?
See earnings by education level and by state.
Do Food Science and Technology graduates work in their field?
The National Survey of College Graduates (2023) asked employed graduates whose highest degree is a bachelor's in agricultural and food sciences how closely their job relates to their degree. About 42% said closely related, 36% somewhat related and 23% not related (roughly 300 thousand graduates). This is a broad group of fields, not only Food Science and Technology, and a job outside the field is not a bad outcome by itself.
Source: U.S. National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Survey of College Graduates, 2023 (Table 1-3, bachelor's level, all occupations). Survey estimates, rounded by NSF. MajorPays selected and reorganized these figures; NSF has not approved or endorsed them.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education, College Scorecard field-of-study data (June 2026 release), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution; careers from O*NET 31.0 by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, ETA, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Career pay, growth and openings: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) and Employment Projections (2025-2035). MajorPays has selected and reorganized these figures; neither agency has approved or endorsed them. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. MajorPays has modified all or some of the O*NET information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Earnings are for graduates who received federal financial aid and were working and not enrolled four years after finishing (graduates of academic years 2014-15 and 2015-16, in 2021 dollars; the debt figures are for graduates of 2018-19 and 2019-20); the data says nothing about how much a school added to its graduates' earnings.