These US cities offer the highest returns on your college investment

In the five-highest earning cities for workers with associate degrees, nursing was the highest-earning field. Registered nursing with this level of education is particularly lucrative in New York City and Los Angeles, where first-year salaries are above $77,000, growing about 20% four years after graduation to $101,415 and $95,549, respectively. San Diego ($79,803) follows, along with Phoenix ($72,602) and San Antonio ($71,687).

For those focused on salary growth four years after graduating with an associate degree, salaries for those with degrees in business administration in San Diego saw salaries that started at $20,394 and skyrocketed 113% to $43,526 after four years. Atlanta and San Antonio also show promising salary growth for those with associate degrees in teacher education and liberal arts, offering 86% and 81% salary growth after four years, respectively.

MoneyGeek's analysis found that bachelor's degree graduates in tech and health care fields have the highest earnings after graduation overall. Providence, Rhode Island, and Claremont, California, emerge as leading cities for computer science graduates. In Providence, the average first-year salary for those in this field stands at $98,310 and rises to $218,525 four years after graduation. Claremont starts with an average salary of $126,267, increasing to $183,524.

In terms of salary growth, chemistry graduates in St. Louis, Missouri, saw the largest increase in earnings among those with bachelor's degrees, with a 188% increase after four years to $78,215. Music majors in Greensboro, North Carolina, followed with a 186% growth in earnings, amounting to a fourth-year salary of $67,432. Northeastern cities, such as Providence and Boston, also rank high for music and computer science majors, respectively, with four-year earnings after graduation increasing by over 122%.

One year after graduation, nurses in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston see the highest average earnings (over $109,000) in the country. Los Angeles also ranks high for one-year salaries for those with master's degrees in business administration, management, and operations, while Chicago ranks high for those working in design and applied arts.

Master's graduates in marketing can expect an average salary of $192,704 in Philadelphia after four years — that's an 88% increase from their first year. Computer science degree-holders in New York City earn a fourth-year average salary of $159,024, up 47% from the first year after graduating. These fields outpace their bachelor's degree counterparts with more than double the earnings growth four years post-graduation.

Tips to maximize your post-graduate earnings

Our study reveals that location matters when it comes to maximizing the financial returns on your educational investment. Although some of the largest cities in the country offer lucrative prospects — especially for higher degrees — unexpected cities also offer promising growth rates for associate and bachelor's degrees. To maximize your post-graduate earnings, consider these tips: 

Be flexible with location: Being willing to relocate can significantly boost your earnings. Using a cost-of-living calculator can help you understand what to expect in a new area and how far your new income will stretch.

Take time to skill up: Complement your degree with additional skills. This not only makes you more marketable but can also give you an edge in salary negotiations.

Understand your future earnings: Use career resources to research potential earnings in your field.

Consider the cost: Weigh the cost of tuition against potential earnings in your chosen field to ensure a good return on investment, as this is crucial for paying down student loan debt after graduation.

Methodology

To determine the U.S. cities where secondary degrees are most lucrative, we analyzed data for median earnings post-graduation for those with secondary degrees. These include associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees.

We also analyzed how these earnings differ by field of study one and four years after graduation. Specifically, we considered the 50 fields of study with the largest number of records in the data. We used the average of the median earnings across all colleges within a city and only included cities with more than five records.

Data by degree program is from the Census Bureau's one-year American Community Survey. Data by field of study is from the Department of Education's College Scorecard.

 

This story was produced by MoneyGeek and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.