Business Degree Salary Potential: Your 2025 Earning Guide

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Learn more about the salary you can expect once you graduate with a business degree, and the factors that can influence whether you make more.

[Featured image] Business degree student sits in a computer lab with a laptop in his lap and is smiling.

Earning an undergraduate business degree, such as a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), can often lead to higher-than-average salaries. That's because business graduates have knowledge and skills that resonate with what many major employers need. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), six of the 10 most in-demand majors are in business [1].

Learn about the salaries you may be able to earn with a business degree, and the factors that can further elevate that salary. Afterward, keep building key analytical skills with the IBM Business Analyst Professional Certificate.

Average business degree salary

There's a reason why majoring in business remains such a popular option among US bachelor's degree graduates [2]. Not only can the degree be versatile, leading to a variety of career options, but it also tends to yield higher salaries. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), business degree holders earn a median annual wage of $71,000 [3]. That’s higher than the median wage for bachelor’s degree holders across all fields: $66,000.

However, several factors can influence salary beyond the field of your degree. Let's explore each of them.

Learn more: Is a Business Degree Worth It?

Business degree salary by major

When you earn a business degree, it's possible to choose a concentration to develop specialized knowledge in, and several of these can lead to higher incomes. The most common business majors are management and administration, general business, accounting, finance, and marketing or market research. According to the BLS, about 88 percent of business degrees are in these focus areas [3].

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the business majors associated with the highest average starting salaries—or entry-level salaries—are management information systems (MIS) and actuarial science [1].

The following offers a look at the average business degree starting salaries ranked by major, according to NACE:

MajorAverage starting salary
Management information systems$73,695
Actuarial science$69,677
Logistics/supply chain$64,538
Finance$64,887
Accounting$64,092
International business$62,988
Business administration/management$62,856
Sales$60,696
Marketing$60,462
Human resources$60,423

Business degree salary by occupation

You may decide to pursue several career paths with a business degree, and each is associated with different salary expectations over time. (Still, most business occupations with a bachelor’s degree as the minimum education requirement are associated with salaries exceeding the national mean wage for all occupations, $48,060 [4].)

Most people with a business degree will work in management or business and financial operations occupations, according to the BLS. The median salary for all careers that the BLS classifies as management occupations is $116,880 [4], while the median salary for business and financial operations occupations is $79,050 [5]. (Note that management salaries tend to be higher since they are often higher-level positions requiring several years of work experience.)

The following represents the median wages and job growth rates for the top-employing roles for people with a business degree, according to the BLS [3]:

JobMedian salaryJob growth rate
Financial manager$156,10017%
Management analyst$99,41011%
Human resources specialist$67,6508%
Accountant and auditor$79,8806%
Manager (other types)$133,5606%

Business degree salary by location

Where you live may influence your compensation. Often, employers will adjust salaries to reflect your local cost of living. Places where the cost of living is high, such as in a major city, tend to reflect higher salaries than places where the cost of living is lower, such as a less expensive suburb. Additionally, employer demand for specific roles may be higher in some areas than others, increasing the average salary.

The states with the highest average salary for business majors, according to Zippia, include [6]:

StateAverage salary
New York$61,825
New Jersey$60,714
Connecticut$59,568
California$58,394
Massachusetts$57,829

Additionally, the cities with the highest average salary for business majors include [6]:

CityAverage salary
New York, New York$61,944
San Francisco, California$61,581
Washington, DC$61,537
Hartford, Connecticut$59,264
Boston, Massachusetts$57,600

Business degree salary by university

Degrees from certain business schools may offer higher starting salaries. Many elements can factor into this, such as a school’s reputation, the quality of education, or a robust alumni network.

The business schools associated with the highest starting salaries include the following, according to an analysis from Payscale [7]:

SchoolAverage early career salary (0–5 years experience, 2024)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)$108,800
Stanford University (Graduate School of Business)$107,700
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)$104,300
University of California Berkeley (Haas)$104,100
Georgetown University (McDonough)$102,100
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)$98,700
Santa Clara University (Leavey)$96,000
University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)$95,800
Lehigh University (College of Business)$95,300
Brown University$95,200
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)$94,200
New York University (Stern)$93,500

Do you make a lot of money with a business degree?

Tip: Look for your school’s employment report to see the salary ranges your program’s previous graduates earned once they completed their degree. In the report, you may also see the specific job roles and companies where they accepted job offers.

Business degree salary: career advancement

A bachelor’s degree is the typical entry-level education requirement for several business occupations. However, about 26 percent of business graduates continue their education with an advanced degree [3]. Earning an advanced business degree, such as a Master of Science (MS) or Master of Business Administration (MBA), can help you qualify for higher-level positions and increased salaries as you continue to grow within your field.

Here are the median starting salaries in the US for recent graduates of business master’s degree programs, according to a survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council [8]:

DegreeMedian starting salary
Master of Business Administration (MBA)$120,000
Master of Finance$80,000
Master in business analytics$80,000
Master of Data Analytics$80,000
Master of Accounting$75,000
Master in Management$80,000

Earn your business degree through Coursera

Learn business essentials with Coursera. Pursue your bachelor’s degree in business administration or marketing from the University of London or study general business at the University of North Texas—all completely online. Register on Coursera for free and start exploring your options.

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Article sources

1

National Association of Colleges and Employers. “NACE Salary Survey: Winter 2024, https://www.uwosh.edu/career/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2024/01/Winter-2024-Salary-Survey-Report.pdf.” Accessed July 17, 2025.

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