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1 / 50#50. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $88,820
- Median hourly wage: $42.70
- Total employment: 930 people (2.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Akron 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 Akron, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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2 / 50#49. Art directors
- Median annual wage: $88,840
- Median hourly wage: $42.71
- Total employment: 50 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $90,130
- Median hourly wage: $43.33
- Total employment: 830 people (2.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $90,670
- Median hourly wage: $43.59
- Total employment: 590 people (1.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $91,490
- Median hourly wage: $43.99
- Total employment: 430 people (1.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Operations research analysts
- Median annual wage: $92,530
- Median hourly wage: $44.49
- Total employment: 90 people (0.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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7 / 50#44. Sales engineers
- Median annual wage: $92,880
- Median hourly wage: $44.65
- Total employment: 100 people (0.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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8 / 50#43. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $93,930
- Median hourly wage: $45.16
- Total employment: 330 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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9 / 50#42. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $95,640
- Median hourly wage: $45.98
- Total employment: 60 people (0.19 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
industryviews // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Career/technical education teachers, secondary school
- Median annual wage: $95,790
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 230 people (0.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $96,270
- Median hourly wage: $46.29
- Total employment: 580 people (1.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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12 / 50#39. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $96,600
- Median hourly wage: $46.44
- Total employment: 8,650 people (27.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $97,280
- Median hourly wage: $46.77
- Total employment: 560 people (1.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $97,980
- Median hourly wage: $47.11
- Total employment: 810 people (2.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $98,380
- Median hourly wage: $47.30
- Total employment: 1,990 people (6.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $99,750
- Median hourly wage: $47.96
- Total employment: 1,270 people (3.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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17 / 50#34. Public relations managers
- Median annual wage: $99,930
- Median hourly wage: $48.04
- Total employment: 60 people (0.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Fundraising managers
- Median annual wage: $100,820
- Median hourly wage: $48.47
- Total employment: 80 people (0.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
THICHA SATAPITANON // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Financial risk specialists
- Median annual wage: $100,970
- Median hourly wage: $48.55
- Total employment: 50 people (0.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $101,040
- Median hourly wage: $48.58
- Total employment: 150 people (0.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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21 / 50#30. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $101,110
- Median hourly wage: $48.61
- Total employment: 2,290 people (7.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $101,130
- Median hourly wage: $48.62
- Total employment: 260 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Forensic science technicians
- Median annual wage: $102,230
- Median hourly wage: $49.15
- Total employment: 80 people (0.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $102,290
- Median hourly wage: $49.18
- Total employment: 860 people (2.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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25 / 50#26. Materials engineers
- Median annual wage: $102,310
- Median hourly wage: $49.19
- Total employment: 90 people (0.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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26 / 50#25. Web developers
- Median annual wage: $102,390
- Median hourly wage: $49.22
- Total employment: 130 people (0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $102,400
- Median hourly wage: $49.23
- Total employment: 1,230 people (3.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $103,330
- Median hourly wage: $49.68
- Total employment: 110 people (0.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
H_Ko // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Materials scientists
- Median annual wage: $103,350
- Median hourly wage: $49.69
- Total employment: 60 people (0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $104,920
- Median hourly wage: $50.44
- Total employment: 200 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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31 / 50#20. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $105,250
- Median hourly wage: $50.60
- Total employment: 140 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
eldar nurkovic // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Chemical engineers
- Median annual wage: $105,660
- Median hourly wage: $50.80
- Total employment: 40 people (0.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Tonhom1009 // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers
- Median annual wage: $105,860
- Median hourly wage: $50.89
- Total employment: 80 people (0.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $112,310
- Median hourly wage: $53.99
- Total employment: 320 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SeventyFour // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Computer hardware engineers
- Median annual wage: $114,770
- Median hourly wage: $55.18
- Total employment: 70 people (0.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $115,880
- Median hourly wage: $55.71
- Total employment: 220 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
aappp // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Aerospace engineers
- Median annual wage: $116,370
- Median hourly wage: $55.95
- Total employment: 100 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Actuaries
- Median annual wage: $118,040
- Median hourly wage: $56.75
- Total employment: 50 people (0.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $122,470
- Median hourly wage: $58.88
- Total employment: 50 people (0.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $126,270
- Median hourly wage: $60.71
- Total employment: 460 people (1.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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41 / 50#10. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $127,890
- Median hourly wage: $61.49
- Total employment: 30 people (0.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $128,710
- Median hourly wage: $61.88
- Total employment: 1,290 people (4.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Database architects
- Median annual wage: $129,120
- Median hourly wage: $62.08
- Total employment: 170 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $132,410
- Median hourly wage: $63.66
- Total employment: 1,610 people (5.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $134,030
- Median hourly wage: $64.44
- Total employment: 460 people (1.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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46 / 50#5. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $135,300
- Median hourly wage: $65.05
- Total employment: 210 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $138,250
- Median hourly wage: $66.47
- Total employment: 550 people (1.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $158,960
- Median hourly wage: $76.42
- Total employment: 460 people (1.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $161,840
- Median hourly wage: $77.81
- Total employment: 750 people (2.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $180,460
- Median hourly wage: $86.76
- Total employment: 270 people (0.85 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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