Is a History degree worth it?
Across 490 schools, graduates of History earn a median $50,185 five years out on $21,450 of debt — most often working as Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education. Every figure is a real, published federal number.
Median 5-yr pay
$50,185
Median debt
$21,450
Years to pay off
4.2
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
40%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+0.9%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
6.5%
$53,288 vs $49,837
Net price
$19,749/yr
Debt-test failures
3.9%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$12,693
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore History in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.