Engineering
What Can You Do With a Materials Science and Engineering Degree?
Invent and test the metals, polymers, and composites everything else is built from. Graduates earn a median $75,000 early in their careers and $105,000 by mid-career. We track 1 career that a Materials Science and Engineering degree commonly leads to, with median pay around $112,860.
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 1 career a Materials Science and Engineering degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Materials Science and Engineering on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Miscellaneous Engineering, the broader group it places this major in.
46% of people with this degree go on to a graduate degree, so the higher-paying careers below usually mean more school after the bachelor's.
Careers this major leads to
Related majors
Frequently asked questions
What can you do with a Materials Science and Engineering degree?
A Materials Science and Engineering degree commonly leads to 1 careers we track, including Materials Engineer. Graduates earn a median $75,000 early in their careers.
How much do Materials Science and Engineering majors make?
Graduates with a Materials Science and Engineering degree earn a median of $75,000 a year early in their careers, and $105,000 by mid-career (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2024 data). Those figures are reported for Miscellaneous Engineering, the broader group this major sits in.
What jobs can a Materials Science and Engineering major get?
Common roles include Materials Engineer. Materials Engineer is among the higher-paying, at $112,860 median.
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Take the major quizWhere these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.
Job-growth figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).