What Geography and Cartography Graduates Earn
How much do Geography and Cartography bachelor's graduates earn?
Graduates of bachelor's programs in Geography and Cartography earn a median of $45,760 one year after graduation and $63,401 five years out, across the 75 programs reporting to College Scorecard. The median debt at graduation is $19,969.
What Geography and Cartography actually returns, in federal numbers: median earnings at three horizons for 4,187 counted graduates, and the median debt those graduates carried out.
Updated November 5, 2026
Median earnings at 1, 4, and 5 years (College Scorecard)
Nothing on this page is a survey response or a recruiter's claim: the $45,760 year-one median and the $63,401 year-five median for Geography and Cartography come from federal earnings records pooled across 313 bachelor's programs. The headline median weights programs by graduates counted (2,810 at year one); the second column is the unweighted median program, printed so the method stays visible.
| Horizon | Median earnings (graduate-weighted) | Median program (unweighted) | Graduates counted | Share earning above the high-school threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year after graduation | $45,760 | $45,212 | 2,810 | 37.9% |
| 4 years after graduation | $58,593 | $57,751 | 3,835 | n/p |
| 5 years after graduation | $63,401 | $61,512 | 4,187 | 53.9% |
From $45,760 in the first year to $63,401 in the fifth, earnings grow 39% ($17,641). For scale, the median bachelor's field in the Scorecard file grows from $45,010 to $65,763 over the same span, so this field's early-career slope is gentler than typical.
The Pell split adds a second lens on the $45,760 year-one median: graduates who received Pell Grants earn a median of $52,185, and graduates who did not earn $49,428, a gap of $2,757. Read it as a map of where each group studied and the networks they carried in, not as the degree paying two different wages for the same work.
Inside its own CIP family, Geography and Cartography ranks 6 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, Other at $63,529, above this field's $63,401. Family comparisons strip out the broad field effect and leave the specific program choice exposed.
Ranked across all 182 published fields, Geography and Cartography stands number 101 by five-year earnings and number 87 by first-year earnings, and number 68 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 33 places.
The debt side of the same degree
Across the 44 programs that report debt for Geography and Cartography, the median graduate owes $19,969. Set beside the $45,760 year-one median, the debt is 44% of first-year gross earnings, about 5.2 months of pay before tax. Repaid on the standard 10-year schedule at 6.52%, it costs $227 monthly and $7,265 in interest. The student loan payoff calculator replays that schedule with your numbers, and the college ROI calculator weighs the full cost against the earnings table above.
Where graduates of this field earn the most
The national median hides the real spread: inside Geography and Cartography, individual programs post five-year medians far from $63,401 in both directions. Below are the highest, filtered to programs with 30 or more graduates counted at five years; University of Washington-Seattle Campus sits first at $78,924.
| Institution | Median earnings, 5 years | Median earnings, 1 year | Median debt | Graduates counted (5yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus | $78,924 | $52,519 | $10,750 | 82 |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | $75,751 | $45,501 | $11,000 | 59 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $75,093 | n/p | n/p | 32 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station | $73,911 | $55,165 | $20,177 | 62 |
| University of Maryland-College Park | $73,694 | $49,871 | n/p | 86 |
Treat the top of this table as a research list, not a ranking to enroll by: medians reflect local labor markets and student mix as much as teaching. The honest comparison pairs each program's earnings here with its net price from the net price estimator and its four-year total from the degree cost calculator.
Two more facts about the shape of this field: the five highest-paying programs in the table account for only 7.7% of the 4,187 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 $78,924 sits 24% above the national field median of $63,401. Its median debt, $10,750, runs below the field median of $19,969, which is the trade a student at the top of this table is actually being offered.
Frequently asked questions
What do Geography and Cartography graduates earn at the start of their careers?
The one-year median is $45,760, pooled from 2,810 graduates counted. Four years out it is $58,593 and five years out $63,401.
What is the median student debt in Geography and Cartography?
$19,969 at graduation, across 44 programs reporting debt. Spread over the standard 10-year plan at 6.52%, that is $227 a month and $7,265 of interest.
How many programs report Geography and Cartography earnings data?
313 bachelor's programs carry the field in the Scorecard file; 75 report a one-year median, 118 a four-year median, and 122 a five-year median. Fields with fewer than 10 reporting at any horizon are not published on this site.
Where can I check the return on a Geography and Cartography degree?
Start with this page's ratio: $19,969 of median debt against $63,401 of five-year median earnings. Then run your own cost and borrowing through the college ROI calculator or the college major ROI calculator for a decision-grade answer.