What Criminology Graduates Earn
How much do Criminology bachelor's graduates earn?
The median Criminology bachelor's graduate starts at $42,101 and reaches $60,473 by year five in the federal Scorecard data (105 programs reporting at that horizon). Median debt at graduation: $20,500.
The after side of the Criminology decision: a $42,101 start, $60,473 by year five, and $20,500 of median debt, measured by the federal government rather than surveyed by marketers.
Updated November 5, 2026
Median earnings at 1, 4, and 5 years (College Scorecard)
Start with the shape of the table: Criminology pays $42,101 at the first measured horizon and $60,473 at the last, and those two medians rest on 10,134 and 10,221 graduates counted respectively. The headline figures weight each reporting program by its graduates counted, so the 400-graduate program moves the national number more than the 12-graduate one; the unweighted column beside it shows the middle program, plain and simple.
| Horizon | Median earnings (graduate-weighted) | Median program (unweighted) | Graduates counted | Share earning above the high-school threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year after graduation | $42,101 | $42,194 | 10,134 | 57.4% |
| 4 years after graduation | $56,659 | $55,772 | 9,935 | n/p |
| 5 years after graduation | $60,473 | $60,178 | 10,221 | 79.2% |
Earnings in this field climb $18,372 between the first and fifth year, a 44% rise that trails the all-fields pattern (the median field in this dataset pays $45,010 at year one and $65,763 at year five). Early-career growth this shape usually means the first job is a foothold: licensure, a portfolio, or a first promotion does the heavy lifting.
One more cut of the year-one data: Pell recipients in Criminology post a median of $40,981, non-recipients $43,510. That $2,529 gap is the distance between two different student populations studying under one field name, and it narrows or widens by institution, which the program table below hints at.
Inside its own CIP family, Criminology ranks 7 of 10 published bachelor's fields by five-year earnings; the family median at that horizon is $63,401. Its closest sibling is Social Sciences, General at $58,102, below this field's $60,473. Family comparisons strip out the broad field effect and leave the specific program choice exposed.
Ranked across all 182 published fields, Criminology stands number 115 by five-year earnings and number 124 by first-year earnings, and number 89 from the lowest median debt. Those three ranks together are the field's fingerprint: high earn rank with a low debt rank is the combination students are actually shopping for, and this field's spread between them is 26 places.
The debt side of the same degree
The median graduate in this field leaves school owing $20,500 in federal loans, the graduate-weighted median across the 125 programs reporting debt. That is 49% of the first-year median earnings, or about 5.8 months of gross pay at $42,101 a year. On the standard 10-year plan at the 2026-27 undergraduate rate of 6.52%, the payment is $233 a month and interest adds $7,458 over the life of the loan. Price your own borrowing with the student loan payoff calculator, and test the whole degree in the college ROI calculator or the college major ROI calculator.
Where graduates of this field earn the most
The national median hides the real spread: inside Criminology, individual programs post five-year medians far from $60,473 in both directions. Below are the highest, filtered to programs with 30 or more graduates counted at five years; Saint Anselm College sits first at $76,944.
| Institution | Median earnings, 5 years | Median earnings, 1 year | Median debt | Graduates counted (5yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Anselm College | $76,944 | $43,739 | $27,000 | 68 |
| Stonehill College | $76,770 | $47,102 | $25,000 | 55 |
| University of Maryland-College Park | $72,857 | $45,287 | $14,000 | 382 |
| University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | $72,388 | $42,698 | $27,000 | 84 |
| University of Delaware | $69,942 | $42,802 | $24,891 | 167 |
A program median describes that program's own graduates in that program's own labor market; Saint Anselm College at $76,944 is evidence about a place and a mix of students, not a wage offer. Put the same programs' prices next to these figures with the degree cost calculator and the net price estimator before ranking anything.
Two more facts about the shape of this field: the five highest-paying programs in the table account for only 7.4% of the 10,221 graduates counted at five years, so the top of the table is a thin slice and not the field's center; and the leading program's five-year median of $76,944 sits 27% above the national field median of $60,473. Its median debt, $27,000, runs above the field median of $20,500, which is the trade a student at the top of this table is actually being offered.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Criminology graduates earn?
The national median is $42,101 one year after graduation and $60,473 five years after, across the 121 bachelor's programs reporting 1-year earnings to College Scorecard (October 2026 release), weighted by graduates counted.
How much debt do Criminology graduates carry?
The median cumulative federal loan debt at graduation is $20,500. On a standard 10-year plan at 6.52% that is $233 a month and $7,458 of interest in total.
How were the Criminology national figures computed?
Scorecard publishes one median per program; this page takes the median of those program medians weighted by each program's graduates counted (10,134 people at year one), and prints the unweighted median program beside it. The field cleared a publication bar of at least 10 programs reporting at every horizon.
Is a degree in Criminology worth it?
The inputs are on this page: $60,473 median earnings at year five against $20,500 median debt. The verdict depends on your actual cost, so run your numbers through the college ROI calculator and the college major ROI calculator.