Grinnell College Outcomes: $59K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do Grinnell College graduates earn?

The reported median is $58,955 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $55,915 as its benchmark; the difference is $3,040 per year.

Graduates of Grinnell College earn a median of $58,955 four years after completion, placing the college in the 47th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure is $3,040 above the $55,915 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the return at the 62nd percentile. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, show the range by field.

The downside earnings scenario is $45,413, the typical is $58,955, and the upside reaches $104,917. The spread between the lowest-earning large program, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology at $53,105, and the highest, Economics at $110,724, anchors that variation.

The earnings scenarios point to a substantial spread: $45,413 on the downside against $104,917 on the upside. The earnings scenarios show a wide range.

At the upper end, Economics graduates earn a median of $110,724 four years after completion, from 46 degrees awarded. Computer Science follows at $109,892, with 56 degrees awarded.

An estimated 43.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, those continuing their education are outside that earnings snapshot.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $45,413
Median · reported: $58,955
Higher estimate: $104,917

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do Grinnell College graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

That comparison is not reported for Grinnell College. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending Grinnell College caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Grinnell College report the highest earnings?

The highest-earning programs at Grinnell College are also among its largest. Economics graduates earn a median of $110,724 four years after completion, with 46 degrees awarded.

Azimuth ranks it #40 nationally in its field. Computer Science is the largest single program, awarding 56 degrees a year and posting median earnings of $109,892.

Azimuth ranks it #80 nationally. Further down the earnings scale, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology ranks #67 nationally, awards 48 degrees and shows a median of $53,105.

Biology graduates earn $56,275, and the program ranks #214 nationally, from 40 degrees awarded. The spread between the highest- and moderate-earning fields is wide, and the programs that pay the most are not small niches.

Social Sciences accounts for 21.3% of bachelor's degrees awarded, ahead of Biological Sciences at 16.2% and Computer & Information Sciences at 10.3%. Azimuth ranks 9 of the college's programs nationally.

The largest single program is Computer Science, at 56 degrees a year. Azimuth ranks it #80 within its field, and graduates earn a median of $109,892 four years after completion.

Economics is nearly as large, at 46 degrees a year, and posts the highest earnings among the college's programs at $110,724. Azimuth ranks it #40 nationally.

Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, with 48 degrees a year, earns a median of $53,105 and ranks #67.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a downside of $45,413, a typical outcome of $58,955, and an upside of $104,917. The spread is wide, anchored by Economics at $110,724 on the high end and Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology at $53,105 among the largest programs on the lower end. The variation underscores how much field of study shapes earnings.

Four years after finishing, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $58,955. Azimuth places that figure in the 47th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on a cohort of 281 completers.

The program mix points to a wide spread in what graduates might earn. A downside earnings scenario sits at $45,413, while the upside reaches $104,917.

These are estimates from the mix of fields, not observed groups of graduates. An estimated 43.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The earnings figures here capture those who enter the workforce directly, four years out.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.