MAJORS · 15 OF 19 BY ROI

Is a economics degree worth it?

On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$638,790. But the spread is the real story.

MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED

+$638,790

across 440 bachelor’s programs · 48,052 graduates

MEDIAN GRADUATE

+$511K

MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN

+$317K ⟷ +$816K

NEVER BREAK EVEN

2.1%

MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE

30

ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES

+$516K

IF YOU DROP OUT

−$126K

The biggest fields inside Economics

  1. Economics. 48,052 grads +$639K

Mean lifetime ROI per field, cohort-weighted. A category average hides this spread — and the per-school spread inside each field is wider still.

Questions

Is a economics degree worth it?
On average yes — across 440 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Economics is +$638,790 and the median is +$511,467. 2.1% of graduates in this category never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$316,772 and +$815,647.
How long until a economics degree pays off?
Among Economics programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 30 (FREOPP 2021). 2.1% of graduates in the category are in programs that never break even at all.
Does the school matter for a economics major?
Enormously. The middle 50% of Economics graduates span +$316,772 to +$815,647 — a +$499K spread within one major. The same field can be a strong trade at one school and a losing one at another, which is why the per-school number matters more than the category average.

↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 19 categories with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology

Cite this:

LE TEEN (2026). “Economics: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/economics