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1 / 50#50. Insurance underwriters
- Median annual wage: $76,150
- Median hourly wage: $36.61
- Total employment: 120 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Fargo 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 Fargo, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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2 / 50#49. Logisticians
- Median annual wage: $76,910
- Median hourly wage: $36.98
- Total employment: 120 people (0.82 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Andrey_Popov // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Property appraisers and assessors
- Median annual wage: $77,000
- Median hourly wage: $37.02
- Total employment: 80 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com //Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Web developers
- Median annual wage: $78,020
- Median hourly wage: $37.51
- Total employment: 180 people (1.19 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $78,990
- Median hourly wage: $37.98
- Total employment: 4,970 people (33.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists
- Median annual wage: $79,240
- Median hourly wage: $38.10
- Total employment: 50 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Undrey // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $80,060
- Median hourly wage: $38.49
- Total employment: 150 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PR Image Factory // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Operations research analysts
- Median annual wage: $80,080
- Median hourly wage: $38.50
- Total employment: 80 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $80,400
- Median hourly wage: $38.65
- Total employment: 500 people (3.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $81,120
- Median hourly wage: $39.00
- Total employment: 50 people (0.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $81,730
- Median hourly wage: $39.29
- Total employment: 170 people (1.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Median annual wage: $81,750
- Median hourly wage: $39.30
- Total employment: 300 people (2.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Freedy // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Surveyors
- Median annual wage: $81,860
- Median hourly wage: $39.36
- Total employment: 80 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $82,300
- Median hourly wage: $39.57
- Total employment: 300 people (2.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $83,330
- Median hourly wage: $40.06
- Total employment: 120 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $84,020
- Median hourly wage: $40.39
- Total employment: 320 people (2.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Flamingo Images // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Credit analysts
- Median annual wage: $84,040
- Median hourly wage: $40.40
- Total employment: 200 people (1.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $84,180
- Median hourly wage: $40.47
- Total employment: 240 people (1.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $85,220
- Median hourly wage: $40.97
- Total employment: 130 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rido // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Social workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $87,050
- Median hourly wage: $41.85
- Total employment: 170 people (1.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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21 / 50#30. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $87,150
- Median hourly wage: $41.90
- Total employment: 90 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $88,430
- Median hourly wage: $42.52
- Total employment: 760 people (5.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
23 / 50#27. Engineers, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $89,410
- Median hourly wage: $42.99
- Total employment: 90 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Civil engineers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $89,410
- Median hourly wage: $42.99
- Total employment: 530 people (3.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
comzeal images // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $89,860
- Median hourly wage: $43.20
- Total employment: 380 people (2.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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26 / 50#25. Financial examiners
- Median annual wage: $90,750
- Median hourly wage: $43.63
- Total employment: 100 people (0.65 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $93,710
- Median hourly wage: $45.05
- Total employment: 3,720 people (25.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $95,730
- Median hourly wage: $46.02
- Total employment: 240 people (1.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $96,350
- Median hourly wage: $46.32
- Total employment: 90 people (0.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $97,220
- Median hourly wage: $46.74
- Total employment: 30 people (0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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31 / 50#20. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $97,490
- Median hourly wage: $46.87
- Total employment: 150 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $99,670
- Median hourly wage: $47.92
- Total employment: 420 people (2.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $103,030
- Median hourly wage: $49.53
- Total employment: 900 people (6.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Technical writers
- Median annual wage: $103,340
- Median hourly wage: $49.69
- Total employment: 50 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $104,000
- Median hourly wage: $50.00
- Total employment: 330 people (2.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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36 / 50#15. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $105,340
- Median hourly wage: $50.65
- Total employment: 170 people (1.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $106,850
- Median hourly wage: $51.37
- Total employment: 80 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $110,390
- Median hourly wage: $53.07
- Total employment: 180 people (1.19 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $110,760
- Median hourly wage: $53.25
- Total employment: 100 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $112,330
- Median hourly wage: $54.01
- Total employment: 220 people (1.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $115,780
- Median hourly wage: $55.66
- Total employment: 150 people (1.0 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $119,640
- Median hourly wage: $57.52
- Total employment: 620 people (4.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $123,460
- Median hourly wage: $59.36
- Total employment: 160 people (1.05 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $126,570
- Median hourly wage: $60.85
- Total employment: 240 people (1.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $128,430
- Median hourly wage: $61.75
- Total employment: 130 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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46 / 50#5. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $135,110
- Median hourly wage: $64.96
- Total employment: 40 people (0.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $135,680
- Median hourly wage: $65.23
- Total employment: 710 people (4.78 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $136,630
- Median hourly wage: $65.69
- Total employment: 100 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $145,060
- Median hourly wage: $69.74
- Total employment: 300 people (2.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $207,830
- Median hourly wage: $99.92
- Total employment: 130 people (0.88 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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