Undrey // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $77,400
- Median hourly wage: $37.21
- Total employment: 170 people (0.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Wilmington 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 Wilmington, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Rawpixel.com //Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Web developers
- Median annual wage: $77,580
- Median hourly wage: $37.30
- Total employment: Not available
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $78,950
- Median hourly wage: $37.96
- Total employment: 90 people (0.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Median annual wage: $79,850
- Median hourly wage: $38.39
- Total employment: 140 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $81,260
- Median hourly wage: $39.07
- Total employment: 150 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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comzeal images // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $81,540
- Median hourly wage: $39.20
- Total employment: 530 people (2.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $82,070
- Median hourly wage: $39.46
- Total employment: 100 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $83,520
- Median hourly wage: $40.15
- Total employment: 440 people (2.33 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $84,640
- Median hourly wage: $40.69
- Total employment: 480 people (2.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $87,410
- Median hourly wage: $42.02
- Total employment: 1,350 people (7.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $87,580
- Median hourly wage: $42.11
- Total employment: 230 people (1.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $88,060
- Median hourly wage: $42.34
- Total employment: 40 people (0.19 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $88,230
- Median hourly wage: $42.42
- Total employment: 140 people (0.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $89,570
- Median hourly wage: $43.06
- Total employment: 2,930 people (15.65 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $89,580
- Median hourly wage: $43.07
- Total employment: 450 people (2.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $92,670
- Median hourly wage: $44.56
- Total employment: 480 people (2.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Csomos Attila // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers
- Median annual wage: $92,750
- Median hourly wage: $44.59
- Total employment: 30 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Technical writers
- Median annual wage: $93,100
- Median hourly wage: $44.76
- Total employment: 40 people (0.23 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Biological scientists, all other
- Median annual wage: $93,950
- Median hourly wage: $45.17
- Total employment: 230 people (1.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
TaLaNoVa // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Sales engineers
- Median annual wage: $94,110
- Median hourly wage: $45.25
- Total employment: 40 people (0.23 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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creativemarc // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $94,160
- Median hourly wage: $45.27
- Total employment: 200 people (1.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $96,670
- Median hourly wage: $46.48
- Total employment: 150 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $99,590
- Median hourly wage: $47.88
- Total employment: 230 people (1.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $100,310
- Median hourly wage: $48.23
- Total employment: 370 people (1.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $100,340
- Median hourly wage: $48.24
- Total employment: 180 people (0.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $100,480
- Median hourly wage: $48.31
- Total employment: 50 people (0.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $100,570
- Median hourly wage: $48.35
- Total employment: 860 people (4.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $101,590
- Median hourly wage: $48.84
- Total employment: 570 people (3.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $101,800
- Median hourly wage: $48.94
- Total employment: 320 people (1.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $106,960
- Median hourly wage: $51.42
- Total employment: 310 people (1.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $107,570
- Median hourly wage: $51.72
- Total employment: 90 people (0.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $110,360
- Median hourly wage: $53.06
- Total employment: 100 people (0.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Social scientists and related workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $114,490
- Median hourly wage: $55.04
- Total employment: 30 people (0.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Database architects
- Median annual wage: $117,130
- Median hourly wage: $56.31
- Total employment: 30 people (0.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $119,100
- Median hourly wage: $57.26
- Total employment: 150 people (0.82 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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dokurose // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $119,170
- Median hourly wage: $57.30
- Total employment: 620 people (3.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $119,350
- Median hourly wage: $57.38
- Total employment: 30 people (0.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $120,240
- Median hourly wage: $57.81
- Total employment: 800 people (4.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $120,370
- Median hourly wage: $57.87
- Total employment: 240 people (1.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $120,740
- Median hourly wage: $58.05
- Total employment: 550 people (2.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Dmitry Lobanov // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Nuclear engineers
- Median annual wage: $123,200
- Median hourly wage: $59.23
- Total employment: 80 people (0.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $123,750
- Median hourly wage: $59.49
- Total employment: 50 people (0.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $126,640
- Median hourly wage: $60.89
- Total employment: 130 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $132,810
- Median hourly wage: $63.85
- Total employment: 470 people (2.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $136,110
- Median hourly wage: $65.44
- Total employment: 190 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $141,190
- Median hourly wage: $67.88
- Total employment: 450 people (2.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $148,580
- Median hourly wage: $71.43
- Total employment: 90 people (0.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VE.Studio // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $156,650
- Median hourly wage: $75.31
- Total employment: 430 people (2.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $165,180
- Median hourly wage: $79.41
- Total employment: 160 people (0.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 70 people (0.37 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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