PR Image Factory // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Operations research analysts
- Median annual wage: $90,750
- Median hourly wage: $43.63
- Total employment: 200 people (0.82 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Palm Bay 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 Palm Bay, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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2 / 50#49. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $91,530
- Median hourly wage: $44.01
- Total employment: 680 people (2.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $92,600
- Median hourly wage: $44.52
- Total employment: 100 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $93,230
- Median hourly wage: $44.82
- Total employment: 710 people (2.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Labor relations specialists
- Median annual wage: $94,700
- Median hourly wage: $45.53
- Total employment: 40 people (0.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $95,390
- Median hourly wage: $45.86
- Total employment: 140 people (0.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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7 / 50#44. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $96,130
- Median hourly wage: $46.22
- Total employment: 160 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $97,760
- Median hourly wage: $47.00
- Total employment: 1,390 people (5.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $97,810
- Median hourly wage: $47.03
- Total employment: 890 people (3.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $99,470
- Median hourly wage: $47.82
- Total employment: 2,120 people (8.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $100,000
- Median hourly wage: $48.08
- Total employment: 100 people (0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $101,250
- Median hourly wage: $48.68
- Total employment: 5,420 people (22.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $101,260
- Median hourly wage: $48.68
- Total employment: 830 people (3.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Median annual wage: $101,510
- Median hourly wage: $48.80
- Total employment: 760 people (3.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $101,970
- Median hourly wage: $49.02
- Total employment: 460 people (1.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $102,310
- Median hourly wage: $49.19
- Total employment: 1,200 people (4.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $103,320
- Median hourly wage: $49.67
- Total employment: 2,280 people (9.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $103,440
- Median hourly wage: $49.73
- Total employment: 250 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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19 / 50#32. Public relations managers
- Median annual wage: $105,660
- Median hourly wage: $50.80
- Total employment: 70 people (0.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $105,880
- Median hourly wage: $50.90
- Total employment: 680 people (2.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $105,970
- Median hourly wage: $50.95
- Total employment: 1,120 people (4.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors
- Median annual wage: $106,390
- Median hourly wage: $51.15
- Total employment: 130 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $106,400
- Median hourly wage: $51.16
- Total employment: 480 people (2.0 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $108,320
- Median hourly wage: $52.08
- Total employment: 260 people (1.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kardasov Films // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Marine engineers and naval architects
- Median annual wage: $108,530
- Median hourly wage: $52.18
- Total employment: 90 people (0.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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VE.Studio // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $113,800
- Median hourly wage: $54.71
- Total employment: 100 people (0.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Halfpoint // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Materials engineers
- Median annual wage: $117,980
- Median hourly wage: $56.72
- Total employment: 100 people (0.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $118,100
- Median hourly wage: $56.78
- Total employment: 90 people (0.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $124,210
- Median hourly wage: $59.72
- Total employment: 730 people (3.0 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
luchschenF // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Chemists
- Median annual wage: $124,440
- Median hourly wage: $59.83
- Total employment: 40 people (0.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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31 / 50#20. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $125,270
- Median hourly wage: $60.23
- Total employment: 790 people (3.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $126,500
- Median hourly wage: $60.82
- Total employment: 440 people (1.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $127,250
- Median hourly wage: $61.18
- Total employment: 960 people (3.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $127,410
- Median hourly wage: $61.26
- Total employment: 380 people (1.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $127,980
- Median hourly wage: $61.53
- Total employment: 4,770 people (19.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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aappp // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Aerospace engineers
- Median annual wage: $130,720
- Median hourly wage: $62.85
- Total employment: 1,270 people (5.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $130,760
- Median hourly wage: $62.87
- Total employment: 430 people (1.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $133,750
- Median hourly wage: $64.31
- Total employment: 1,250 people (5.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $135,320
- Median hourly wage: $65.06
- Total employment: 1,220 people (5.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $136,240
- Median hourly wage: $65.50
- Total employment: 220 people (0.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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TaLaNoVa // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Sales engineers
- Median annual wage: $138,200
- Median hourly wage: $66.44
- Total employment: 50 people (0.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Database architects
- Median annual wage: $138,760
- Median hourly wage: $66.71
- Total employment: 30 people (0.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Csomos Attila // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers
- Median annual wage: $142,150
- Median hourly wage: $68.34
- Total employment: 60 people (0.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $142,490
- Median hourly wage: $68.51
- Total employment: 810 people (3.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $147,620
- Median hourly wage: $70.97
- Total employment: 200 people (0.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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46 / 50#5. Computer hardware engineers
- Median annual wage: $152,260
- Median hourly wage: $73.20
- Total employment: 570 people (2.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Physical scientists, all other
- Median annual wage: $155,080
- Median hourly wage: $74.56
- Total employment: 80 people (0.33 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $163,630
- Median hourly wage: $78.67
- Total employment: 890 people (3.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $172,210
- Median hourly wage: $82.79
- Total employment: 840 people (3.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $201,620
- Median hourly wage: $96.93
- Total employment: 460 people (1.89 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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