Natee K Jindakum // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Financial examiners
- Median annual wage: $73,910
- Median hourly wage: $35.53
- Total employment: 170 people (0.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Little Rock that require a bachelor's degree
Between rising tuition and a tight job market, getting a bachelor's degree is an increasingly daunting prospect these days. Per a May 2024 Pew Research Center survey, just 1 in 4 adults believe a college degree is necessary to secure a high-paying job.
Many second-guess the value of college because of the cost. For the 2024-2025 school year, annual tuition and fees averaged more than $11,600 at in-state public universities, a nearly 3% increase from the previous year. Tuition at private schools increased by roughly 4% in the same time period.
Besides financial concerns, there are career opportunities to consider. Though the job market in the United States shifts from month to month, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates aged 22 to 27 reached 5.8% in March 2025, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For context, that's more than double the unemployment rate of all college graduates.
These factors all contribute to the belief that college may not be the answer for everyone. However, research shows that a bachelor's degree still pays off in the long run. As of 2024, the most recent year with available data, the $60,000 median salary for a recent college graduate is $20,000 more than the median earnings for someone with only a high school diploma.
Although high school grads can make a decent salary without taking on student loan debt, lifetime earnings range between $630,000 and $900,000 more for those with a bachelor's degree. Graduate degree holders, meanwhile, may earn $1.1 million to $1.5 million more than high school graduates.
With this in mind, many different jobs make a degree worth the cost of tuition. Stacker ranked the highest-paying jobs that require a bachelor's degree in Little Rock, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $75,440
- Median hourly wage: $36.27
- Total employment: 200 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Patrizio Martorana // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health
- Median annual wage: $75,620
- Median hourly wage: $36.36
- Total employment: 130 people (0.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $76,040
- Median hourly wage: $36.56
- Total employment: 1,750 people (4.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Median annual wage: $76,250
- Median hourly wage: $36.66
- Total employment: 160 people (0.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $76,410
- Median hourly wage: $36.74
- Total employment: 350 people (0.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $77,290
- Median hourly wage: $37.16
- Total employment: 130 people (0.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $77,890
- Median hourly wage: $37.45
- Total employment: 290 people (0.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $78,270
- Median hourly wage: $37.63
- Total employment: 540 people (1.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $78,920
- Median hourly wage: $37.94
- Total employment: 490 people (1.39 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $79,830
- Median hourly wage: $38.38
- Total employment: 11,220 people (31.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
THICHA SATAPITANON // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Financial risk specialists
- Median annual wage: $81,080
- Median hourly wage: $38.98
- Total employment: 60 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $81,350
- Median hourly wage: $39.11
- Total employment: 650 people (1.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $82,370
- Median hourly wage: $39.60
- Total employment: 170 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $82,920
- Median hourly wage: $39.87
- Total employment: 340 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors
- Median annual wage: $83,730
- Median hourly wage: $40.25
- Total employment: 30 people (0.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $84,100
- Median hourly wage: $40.43
- Total employment: 280 people (0.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $85,190
- Median hourly wage: $40.96
- Total employment: 190 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Compensation and benefits managers
- Median annual wage: $86,080
- Median hourly wage: $41.39
- Total employment: 60 people (0.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rido // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Social workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $86,240
- Median hourly wage: $41.46
- Total employment: 280 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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21 / 50#30. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $86,490
- Median hourly wage: $41.58
- Total employment: 2,070 people (5.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $86,940
- Median hourly wage: $41.80
- Total employment: 360 people (1.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $87,010
- Median hourly wage: $41.83
- Total employment: 700 people (1.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $87,100
- Median hourly wage: $41.88
- Total employment: 110 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $87,360
- Median hourly wage: $42.00
- Total employment: 330 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $87,850
- Median hourly wage: $42.23
- Total employment: 210 people (0.61 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Pressmaster // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Public relations managers
- Median annual wage: $90,290
- Median hourly wage: $43.41
- Total employment: 60 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $90,750
- Median hourly wage: $43.63
- Total employment: 2,360 people (6.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $90,830
- Median hourly wage: $43.67
- Total employment: 220 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Toa55 // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Landscape architects
- Median annual wage: $90,990
- Median hourly wage: $43.75
- Total employment: Not available
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31 / 50#20. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $92,480
- Median hourly wage: $44.46
- Total employment: 240 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
eldar nurkovic // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Chemical engineers
- Median annual wage: $94,600
- Median hourly wage: $45.48
- Total employment: Not available
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $95,420
- Median hourly wage: $45.88
- Total employment: 310 people (0.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $96,360
- Median hourly wage: $46.33
- Total employment: 390 people (1.11 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $99,550
- Median hourly wage: $47.86
- Total employment: 1,100 people (3.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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36 / 50#15. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $100,500
- Median hourly wage: $48.32
- Total employment: 2,170 people (6.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $100,800
- Median hourly wage: $48.46
- Total employment: 80 people (0.23 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $101,000
- Median hourly wage: $48.56
- Total employment: 1,420 people (4.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $101,930
- Median hourly wage: $49.01
- Total employment: 390 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $102,850
- Median hourly wage: $49.45
- Total employment: 150 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $103,700
- Median hourly wage: $49.86
- Total employment: 360 people (1.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
aappp // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Aerospace engineers
- Median annual wage: $104,320
- Median hourly wage: $50.15
- Total employment: 70 people (0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $105,790
- Median hourly wage: $50.86
- Total employment: 390 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VE.Studio // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $110,300
- Median hourly wage: $53.03
- Total employment: 100 people (0.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Database architects
- Median annual wage: $111,750
- Median hourly wage: $53.73
- Total employment: 60 people (0.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers
- Median annual wage: $117,190
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 50 people (0.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $117,800
- Median hourly wage: $56.64
- Total employment: 1,140 people (3.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $122,810
- Median hourly wage: $59.04
- Total employment: 330 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $127,740
- Median hourly wage: $61.41
- Total employment: 250 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $136,890
- Median hourly wage: $65.81
- Total employment: 550 people (1.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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