What are the most common degrees in Chicago?

More Americans than ever are earning diplomas, which boosts earnings and decreases their risk of unemployment.

Learner analyzed data from the Census Bureau via the University of Minnesota IPUMS to see what the most common college majors are for American workers in Chicago, based on a national analysis. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.

In 2022, 37.5% of adults 25 and older had earned a bachelor's degree or higher, up from around 28% in 2009. The rise may be due in part to a shift in job requirements: Roles that once required just a high school education now call for a college degree. Americans holding bachelor's degrees had an unemployment rate of just 2.2% last year, compared to 3.9% for those with only high school degrees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

New York Federal Reserve research published in 2019 found that college graduates had a substantial premium over workers with only high school degrees, earning about $30,000 a year more on average. They estimate that for students who complete their degrees, the return on investment for a college degree is around 14%.

Nationally, business is by far the most common undergraduate major. As of 2022, around 8.5 million adults working full-time had a bachelor's degree in a business-related field, while 2.9 million of them also earned some kind of postgraduate degree in the field, such as a master's degree in business or accounting.

Common jobs for business majors include accountants, who make a median income of $80,000 yearly; financial analysts, who make around $100,000; and market researchers, who take home about $75,000, per BLS data. Engineering and education were the next most common fields for full-time workers, with around 4.5 million graduates each.

College is becoming increasingly expensive. However, for some, especially those with an academic aptitude, earning a degree can still make financial sense.

Read on to see what the most common college degrees are in Chicago.

#5. Engineering
- Workers with only a bachelor's degree in 2022: 24,800
-- Median annual income: $89,900
- Workers with this bachelor's degree, plus a postgraduate degree in 2022: 18,600
-- Median annual income: $113,200

#4. Social sciences
- Workers with only a bachelor's degree in 2022: 30,500
-- Median annual income: $75,300
- Workers with this bachelor's degree, plus a postgraduate degree in 2022: 30,000
-- Median annual income: $106,400

#3. Fine arts
- Workers with only a bachelor's degree in 2022: 32,000
-- Median annual income: $52,500
- Workers with this bachelor's degree, plus a postgraduate degree in 2022: 10,800
-- Median annual income: $69,600

#2. Communications
- Workers with only a bachelor's degree in 2022: 35,500
-- Median annual income: $69,600
- Workers with this bachelor's degree, plus a postgraduate degree in 2022: 10,400
-- Median annual income: $85,000

#1. Business
- Workers with only a bachelor's degree in 2022: 99,200
-- Median annual income: $81,000
- Workers with this bachelor's degree, plus a postgraduate degree in 2022: 39,800
-- Median annual income: $101,800

This story features data reporting and writing by Wade Zhou and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 35 cities.