Does a Public Health Degree Pay Off? Earnings, Debt & Schools

Other degree levels for this field: Associate degrees · Master's degrees

This page shows what graduates with a bachelor's degree in Public Health 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 186 reporting units (schools, or groups of campuses that report together) with these figures.

Median earnings, 4 years after graduation

$58,808

All graduates nationally

Middle half of graduates nationally

$41,981–$79,154

25th to 75th percentile

Typical federal debt of graduates

$25,000

Median across reporting units

Schools reporting earnings for Public Health 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 (142 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
American Public University System	WV	$59,240	102
American University	DC	$70,831	69
Appalachian State University	NC	$49,039	80
Arizona State University Campus Immersion (reported together with 1 other campus under one federal school ID)	AZ	$64,275	78
Brigham Young University	UT	$51,996	98
Brigham Young University-Idaho	ID	$44,015	211
Brown University	RI	$74,496	32
Bryant & Stratton College-Albany (reported together with 7 other campuses under one federal school ID)	NY	$47,437	161
California Baptist University	CA	$77,329	46
California State University-Fresno	CA	$51,693	103
California State University-Long Beach	CA	$57,296	218
California State University-Los Angeles	CA	$56,466	210
California State University-Northridge	CA	$55,989	328
Central Washington University	WA	$62,435	35
Chapman University	CA	$72,529	50
Coastal Carolina University	SC	$48,238	71
College of Charleston	SC	$55,660	131
Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania	PA	$75,679	129
CUNY Lehman College	NY	$56,615	60
CUNY York College	NY	$52,679	74
Dillard University	LA	$47,641	43
East Carolina University	NC	$59,566	324
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania	PA	$54,456	45
East Tennessee State University	TN	$52,543	74
Eastern Florida State College	FL	$53,408	49
Eastern Kentucky University	KY	$51,086	66
Elon University	NC	$81,153	47
Emporia State University	KS	$48,325	41
Florida Gulf Coast University	FL	$58,119	81
Florida National University-Main Campus	FL	$51,212	45
George Mason University	VA	$65,358	197
George Washington University	DC	$87,217	38
Georgia College & State University	GA	$62,386	64
Georgia Southern University	GA	$49,881	111
Georgia State University	GA	$48,896	47
Governors State University	IL	$51,027	37
Hofstra University	NY	$58,610	51
Illinois State University	IL	$84,790	58
Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	$68,038	185
Indiana University-Indianapolis	IN	$57,800	132
Indiana University-Northwest	IN	$53,988	42
Johns Hopkins University	MD	$79,113	81
Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale	FL	$52,247	130
Kent State University at Kent (reported together with 1 other campus under one federal school ID)	OH	$54,544	229
La Salle University	PA	$50,517	32
Liberty University	VA	$48,926	65
Louisiana State University-Shreveport	LA	$61,423	31
Mercer University	GA	$60,401	34
Mercyhurst University	PA	$54,182	30
Miami University-Oxford	OH	$56,955	63
Middle Tennessee State University	TN	$46,320	65
Mississippi University for Women	MS	$38,325	48
Monroe University	NY	$56,526	317
Montana Technological University	MT	$86,855	36
Montclair State University	NJ	$55,681	98
National University	CA	$70,340	93
New York University	NY	$70,840	45
Northern Arizona University	AZ	$61,757	272
Oakland University	MI	$85,266	33
Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$70,369	79
Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus (reported together with 5 other campuses under one federal school ID)	OH	$62,153	36
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	$52,517	75
Oregon State University	OR	$62,633	191
Pacific University	OR	$55,116	34
Portland State University	OR	$58,860	259
Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	$66,892	56
Rasmussen University-Florida (reported together with 5 other campuses under one federal school ID)	FL	$49,032	48
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$74,633	350
Saint Cloud State University	MN	$50,932	31
Saint Louis University	MO	$63,652	39
Sam Houston State University	TX	$50,970	118
San Diego State University	CA	$60,904	60
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania	PA	$60,530	152
South University-Austin (reported together with 8 other campuses under one federal school ID)	TX	$45,993	73
Southeastern Louisiana University	LA	$45,401	38
Southern Connecticut State University	CT	$53,997	96
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	IL	$47,652	48
Southern New Hampshire University	NH	$58,520	134
Southwest University at El Paso	TX	$40,984	48
St Catherine University	MN	$61,169	53
St Petersburg College	FL	$59,200	122
Stockton University	NJ	$59,871	39
SUNY Brockport	NY	$48,099	31
Syracuse University	NY	$69,776	80
Temple University	PA	$57,499	120
Texas A&M University-College Station	TX	$66,732	67
Texas State University	TX	$54,229	40
The College of New Jersey	NJ	$66,722	31
The University of Alabama	AL	$51,588	65
The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$61,390	146
The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	$44,665	71
The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	$54,188	176
Truman State University	MO	$60,157	53
Tufts University	MA	$75,448	38
Union Institute & University	OH	$48,652	37
University at Albany	NY	$64,456	42
University of Alabama at Birmingham	AL	$44,398	94
University of Arizona	AZ	$66,937	214
University of Arkansas	AR	$67,891	85
University of California-Berkeley	CA	$76,572	104
University of California-Irvine	CA	$60,430	339
University of California-Merced	CA	$56,393	83
University of California-San Diego	CA	$66,110	193
University of Central Oklahoma	OK	$67,452	140
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	$51,990	45
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus	CO	$58,310	95
University of Delaware	DE	$70,793	135
University of Detroit Mercy	MI	$55,002	32
University of Florida (reported together with 1 other campus under one federal school ID)	FL	$68,605	219
University of Georgia	GA	$78,085	92
University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI	$56,371	32
University of Houston-Downtown	TX	$52,438	48
University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$58,603	37
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$65,978	187
University of Indianapolis	IN	$55,147	30
University of Kentucky	KY	$59,163	87
University of Louisville	KY	$56,057	43
University of Lynchburg	VA	$57,945	33
University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$72,328	222
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$63,854	170
University of Massachusetts-Lowell	MA	$65,429	103
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$78,928	33
University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	$59,639	42
University of Nebraska at Omaha	NE	$54,228	33
University of North Carolina Asheville	NC	$42,267	47
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	NC	$63,965	51
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	NC	$53,124	58
University of North Carolina Wilmington	NC	$60,722	63
University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	$58,715	286
University of South Florida	FL	$53,560	273
University of Southern California	CA	$89,522	36
University of Southern Mississippi	MS	$47,419	73
University of St Thomas	MN	$59,389	41
University of Utah	UT	$55,200	73
University of Washington-Bothell Campus (reported together with 2 other campuses under one federal school ID)	WA	$63,666	203
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse	WI	$55,418	53
Utah Valley University	UT	$49,432	99
Walden University	MN	$63,061	55
Wayne State University	MI	$55,302	57
Weber State University	UT	$50,046	51
West Virginia University	WV	$64,888	44
Western Oregon University	OR	$52,452	50

See every school that awarded bachelor's degrees in Public Health 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 Public Health 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
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	$107,310	+17.9%	24,900
Medical and Health Services Managers	$123,860	+24.2%	62,300
Health Education Specialists	$64,070	+5.6%	6,900
Community Health Workers	$51,850	+12.7%	7,000
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	$90,150	+18.5%	17,100
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	$61,560	+19.4%	3,800
Compliance Officers	$80,730	+3.8%	32,700
Environmental Compliance Inspectors	$80,730	+3.8%	32,700
Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers	$80,730	+3.8%	32,700
Government Property Inspectors and Investigators	$80,730	+3.8%	32,700

Frequently asked questions

Does a Public Health degree pay off?

Graduates with a bachelor's degree in Public Health earn a median of $58,808 four years after graduating, and typically owe about $25,000 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 Public Health graduates work in their field?

The National Survey of College Graduates (2023) asked employed graduates whose highest degree is a bachelor's in health how closely their job relates to their degree. About 73% said closely related, 16% somewhat related and 12% not related (roughly 3.0 million graduates). This is a broad group of fields, not only Public Health, and a job outside the field is not a bad outcome by itself.

Closely relatedSomewhat relatedNot related

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.