What Zoology/Animal Biology Graduates Earn
How much do Zoology/Animal Biology bachelor's graduates earn?
One year out, the median bachelor's graduate in Zoology/Animal Biology earns $35,530; five years out, $51,382. The figures pool 3,596 graduates counted at the first horizon, and the median debt carried out of school is $20,916.
For a student weighing Zoology/Animal Biology: the starting median is $35,530, the five-year median is $51,382, and the median borrower owes $20,916. Here is every one of those numbers with its workings shown.
Updated November 5, 2026
Median earnings at 1, 4, and 5 years (College Scorecard)
The three rows below are the whole earnings story Scorecard can tell about Zoology/Animal Biology: $35,530, then $45,501, then $51,382. Each median is graduate-weighted, built from 54 programs at year one and 53 at year five, and the unweighted program median sits alongside so a reader can see how much the weighting itself is doing.
| Horizon | Median earnings (graduate-weighted) | Median program (unweighted) | Graduates counted | Share earning above the high-school threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year after graduation | $35,530 | $33,418 | 3,596 | 30.3% |
| 4 years after graduation | $45,501 | $44,072 | 2,943 | n/p |
| 5 years after graduation | $51,382 | $48,618 | 3,188 | 66.1% |
From $35,530 in the first year to $51,382 in the fifth, earnings grow 45% ($15,852). 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.
Scorecard separates the first-year figure by Pell history for this field: $36,969 for graduates who received Pell, $35,687 for those who did not. The $1,282 difference tracks institutional mix and starting networks far more than it tracks the credential itself, and it is printed here because a Pell student comparing programs deserves the unblended number.
Inside its own CIP family, Zoology/Animal Biology ranks 10 of 10 published bachelor's fields by five-year earnings; the family median at that horizon is $70,226. Its closest sibling is Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology at $53,995, above this field's $51,382. Family comparisons strip out the broad field effect and leave the specific program choice exposed.
Ranked across all 182 published fields, Zoology/Animal Biology stands number 157 by five-year earnings and number 166 by first-year earnings, and number 99 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 58 places.
The debt side of the same degree
Across the 54 programs that report debt for Zoology/Animal Biology, the median graduate owes $20,916. Set beside the $35,530 year-one median, the debt is 59% of first-year gross earnings, about 7.1 months of pay before tax. Repaid on the standard 10-year schedule at 6.52%, it costs $238 monthly and $7,609 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 Zoology/Animal Biology, individual programs post five-year medians far from $51,382 in both directions. Below are the highest, filtered to programs with 30 or more graduates counted at five years; University of Connecticut sits first at $72,590.
| Institution | Median earnings, 5 years | Median earnings, 1 year | Median debt | Graduates counted (5yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Connecticut | $72,590 | $35,530 | $20,500 | 47 |
| University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus | $72,590 | $35,530 | $20,500 | 47 |
| University of Connecticut-Avery Point | $72,590 | $35,530 | $20,500 | 47 |
| University of Connecticut-Stamford | $72,590 | $35,530 | $20,500 | 47 |
| University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus | $72,590 | $35,530 | $20,500 | 47 |
High program medians concentrate in high-wage metros and selective intakes, so read $72,590 as a market fact before reading it as a quality verdict. Costs for the same programs are checkable in the degree cost calculator and the net price estimator.
Two more facts about the shape of this field: the five highest-paying programs in the table account for only 7.4% of the 3,188 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 $72,590 sits 41% above the national field median of $51,382. Its median debt, $20,500, runs below the field median of $20,916, which is the trade a student at the top of this table is actually being offered.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Zoology/Animal Biology graduates earn?
The national median is $35,530 one year after graduation and $51,382 five years after, across the 54 bachelor's programs reporting 1-year earnings to College Scorecard (October 2026 release), weighted by graduates counted.
How much debt do Zoology/Animal Biology graduates carry?
The median cumulative federal loan debt at graduation is $20,916. On a standard 10-year plan at 6.52% that is $238 a month and $7,609 of interest in total.
How were the Zoology/Animal Biology 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 (3,596 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 Zoology/Animal Biology worth it?
The inputs are on this page: $51,382 median earnings at year five against $20,916 median debt. The verdict depends on your actual cost, so run your numbers through the college ROI calculator and the college major ROI calculator.