Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $60,230
- Median hourly wage: $28.96
- Total employment: 100 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Longview, Texas 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 Longview, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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2 / 50#49. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $61,190
- Median hourly wage: $29.42
- Total employment: 210 people (1.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Flamingo Images // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Credit analysts
- Median annual wage: $62,970
- Median hourly wage: $30.27
- Total employment: 30 people (0.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Mongta Studio // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Cost estimators
- Median annual wage: $63,900
- Median hourly wage: $30.72
- Total employment: 180 people (1.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GLRL // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Buyers and purchasing agents
- Median annual wage: $66,670
- Median hourly wage: $32.05
- Total employment: 300 people (2.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Business operations specialists, all other
- Median annual wage: $66,680
- Median hourly wage: $32.06
- Total employment: 380 people (3.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Andrey_Popov // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Property appraisers and assessors
- Median annual wage: $67,120
- Median hourly wage: $32.27
- Total employment: 50 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ImageFlow // Shutterstock
8 / 50#42. Accountants and auditors (tie)
- Median annual wage: $69,520
- Median hourly wage: $33.42
- Total employment: 770 people (6.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Pakorn Khantiyaporn // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Logisticians (tie)
- Median annual wage: $69,520
- Median hourly wage: $33.42
- Total employment: 120 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Freedy // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Surveyors
- Median annual wage: $72,730
- Median hourly wage: $34.96
- Total employment: 130 people (1.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $73,250
- Median hourly wage: $35.22
- Total employment: 210 people (1.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $73,700
- Median hourly wage: $35.43
- Total employment: 100 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $75,230
- Median hourly wage: $36.17
- Total employment: 150 people (1.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $76,310
- Median hourly wage: $36.69
- Total employment: 70 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $76,700
- Median hourly wage: $36.88
- Total employment: 550 people (4.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $77,740
- Median hourly wage: $37.38
- Total employment: 190 people (1.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $77,960
- Median hourly wage: $37.48
- Total employment: 60 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Natee K Jindakum // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Financial examiners
- Median annual wage: $78,690
- Median hourly wage: $37.83
- Total employment: 60 people (0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
19 / 50#31. Registered nurses (tie)
- Median annual wage: $79,290
- Median hourly wage: $38.12
- Total employment: 2,020 people (17.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Civil engineers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $79,290
- Median hourly wage: $38.12
- Total employment: 140 people (1.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $80,260
- Median hourly wage: $38.59
- Total employment: 30 people (0.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $83,430
- Median hourly wage: $40.11
- Total employment: 3,670 people (31.23 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Undrey // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $85,040
- Median hourly wage: $40.89
- Total employment: 90 people (0.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $89,440
- Median hourly wage: $43.00
- Total employment: 90 people (0.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $90,500
- Median hourly wage: $43.51
- Total employment: 120 people (0.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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26 / 50#25. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $92,610
- Median hourly wage: $44.52
- Total employment: 170 people (1.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $93,130
- Median hourly wage: $44.77
- Total employment: 380 people (3.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $96,900
- Median hourly wage: $46.59
- Total employment: 60 people (0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $99,210
- Median hourly wage: $47.70
- Total employment: 50 people (0.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $99,930
- Median hourly wage: $48.04
- Total employment: 490 people (4.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $101,050
- Median hourly wage: $48.58
- Total employment: 190 people (1.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $101,810
- Median hourly wage: $48.95
- Total employment: 40 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors
- Median annual wage: $102,400
- Median hourly wage: $49.23
- Total employment: 40 people (0.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $103,280
- Median hourly wage: $49.66
- Total employment: 40 people (0.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $103,680
- Median hourly wage: $49.84
- Total employment: 170 people (1.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $104,700
- Median hourly wage: $50.34
- Total employment: 250 people (2.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $105,980
- Median hourly wage: $50.95
- Total employment: 130 people (1.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $109,820
- Median hourly wage: $52.80
- Total employment: 130 people (1.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $110,070
- Median hourly wage: $52.92
- Total employment: 210 people (1.78 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Another77 // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Petroleum engineers
- Median annual wage: $110,310
- Median hourly wage: $53.04
- Total employment: 180 people (1.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $110,870
- Median hourly wage: $53.30
- Total employment: 100 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $113,970
- Median hourly wage: $54.79
- Total employment: 30 people (0.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $117,620
- Median hourly wage: $56.55
- Total employment: 470 people (4.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $120,230
- Median hourly wage: $57.80
- Total employment: 280 people (2.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $128,890
- Median hourly wage: $61.97
- Total employment: 360 people (3.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $129,010
- Median hourly wage: $62.02
- Total employment: 180 people (1.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $133,310
- Median hourly wage: $64.09
- Total employment: 40 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $134,710
- Median hourly wage: $64.76
- Total employment: 190 people (1.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $139,940
- Median hourly wage: $67.28
- Total employment: 100 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $176,170
- Median hourly wage: $84.70
- Total employment: 80 people (0.7 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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