Rising college graduates have high expectations for their starting salaries, but the reality of the job market may fall short of their hopes, according to a new report from ZipRecruiter.
Members of the class of 2025 say they expect to earn an average $101,500 per year for their first job, according to the survey of over 3,000 recent and rising college grads between Feb. 28 and March 19.
That's much higher than what the average recent grad actually makes — $68,400 per year — according to survey data.
A few factors might go into the expectations versus reality gap, says Sam DeMase, ZipRecruiter's career expert.
"Social media definitely alters the perception of reality for a lot of these rising and recent grads," DeMase tells CNBC Make It. "It puts a lot of wealth on display and can skew that perception by showcasing the exceptions and not the rules."
Second, new grads are seeing economic realities — expensive rent, student debt, inflation — and reasonably expect salaries to be able to cover their basic costs. They're thinking, "if my cost of living is going up, my salary should be going up, too," DeMase says. Rising inflation eased toward the end of 2024, but wage growth has slowed since the 2022 Great Resignation era.
Finally, college seniors might not be aware of what salaries are out there until they're well into the job search and have received several offers, she adds.
Where 6-figure starting salaries are most common
Some new grads may be more likely to reach their salary expectations if they work for a handful of lucrative fields.
ZipRecruiter crunched the numbers on the top fields, and the most common job title in that field, where soon-to-be grads are most likely to earn $100,000 or more right after graduation, based on job postings and their typical salary ranges for 2025 so far.
They include:
- Consulting: Consulting services associate, $50,000 to $105,500 per year
- Program management: Program analyst, $69,000 to $116,000 per year
- Nursing: Radiology nurse, $73,000 to $161,000 per year
- Industrial maintenance: Hydraulics engineer, $98,000 to $119,000 per year
- Telecommunications: Telecommunications specialist, $60,000 to $112,000 per year
- Business development: Business developer, $52,000 to $112,000 per year
- Data specialist: Big data software engineer, $112,000 to $148,000 per year
- Home health care: Home health physical therapist assistant, $85,000 to $117,000 per year
- Real estate sales: Real estate associate, $57,000 to $113,000 per year
- Procurement: Supply chain manager, $79,000 to $133,000 per year
Consulting is known to be a high-paying field, and even entry-level workers can secure a six-figure salary right after graduation, DeMase says.
New grads can negotiate higher starting salaries by showcasing previous experience doing contract or freelance consulting work during college, or managing social media, side hustles or freelancing gigs throughout school, DeMase says.
Meanwhile, "program management is a very overlooked six-figure entry-level field," DeMase adds. "I think that recent and rising grads should be looking at program management. If you're someone who is organized, has leadership potential, can multitask really well, can communicate exceptionally well — those skill sets are really valued in program management."
Nursing jobs are a "classic" in-demand and potentially high-paying job, DeMase adds, but the continued demand for more nurses over many years "is worth calling out." The U.S. Labor Department projects that employment opportunities for nurses will grow faster than all other occupations through 2026, especially as Baby Boomers grow older, yet there's a persistent shortage of workers due to a lack of potential educators, elevated burnout rates, high turnover and tenured workers retiring.
It's worth noting that starting salaries range dramatically depending on the location. For example, the average starting pay for a consulting services associate is close to $90,000 in New York and California, but $80,000 in Illinois and $60,000 in the Kansas City area, according to ZipRecruiter.
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