UChicago Career Outcomes: $128K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do UChicago graduates earn?

The reported median is $127,757 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is $59,507 per year.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $127,757. That is $59,507 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $27,445 more than expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,057.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $18,388. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,043.

Azimuth ranks the university #4 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings vary considerably by program at University of Chicago. The downside scenario, reflecting lower-earning program clusters, sits at $57,031, while the upside scenario reaches $167,145.

Computer Science completers earn a median of $178,068 four years after completion, and Mathematics completers earn $172,826. Economics graduates earn $159,578.

The typical earnings scenario, anchored on the university's program mix, is $127,757.

An estimated 42.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the university's program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings figures capture only those working and not enrolled, the median earnings understate the eventual earnings of the sizable share of completers who pursue advanced degrees.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $127,757
Rank for difference from expectations: 98th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

UChicago reported median: $127,757
Peer schools comparable schools · $59,507 below UChicago: $68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $27,445 below UChicago: $100,312

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How many UChicago first-year students return?

First-time, full-time bachelor’s cohorts · CDS 2025-26

Returned the following fall: 99.0%

Source: University of Chicago Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $57,031
Median · reported: $127,757
Higher estimate: $167,145

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 UChicago 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.

UChicago graduates’ reported earnings are $27,445 above that expectation, the 98th percentile for this measure. 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 UChicago caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at UChicago report the highest earnings?

Economics awards the most bachelor's degrees at University of Chicago, with 634 degrees a year and median earnings of $159,578 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks it #1 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

The highest earnings come from a smaller program. Computer Science graduates earn $178,068, from 126 degrees awarded.

Mathematics follows at $172,826, with 169 degrees awarded and a national rank of #3. Further down the earnings scale, Biology graduates earn $59,794 from 136 degrees awarded.

Azimuth places it #114 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

University of Chicago has 8 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, and the earnings spread between them is wide. Economics is the largest, awarding 634 degrees a year and ranked #1 in its field by Azimuth.

Its completers earn a median of $159,578 four years after graduating. Mathematics ranks #3 nationally, awards 169 degrees, and its completers earn a median of $172,826 four years after completion.

Biology ranks #114 nationally, awards 136 degrees, and its completers earn a median of $59,794 four years after completion. The largest family is Social Sciences, at 36.3% of degrees awarded, with Mathematics & Statistics second at 10.1%.

The highest-earning program, Computer Science, awards 126 degrees and its completers earn a median of $178,068 four years after completion.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the university's program mix show a downside of $57,031, a typical outcome of $127,757, and an upside of $167,145. Among the largest programs, Computer Science reaches $178,068 at the high end, while Biology sits at $59,794 at the lower end.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of University of Chicago graduates stand at $127,757, drawn from a cohort of 1,338 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure is above the $68,250 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $59,507 and places the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $27,445 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 99th percentile nationally. Program-mix earnings scenarios model a typical return of $127,757, a lower-bound outcome of $57,031, and an upper-bound outcome of $167,145.

An estimated 42.2% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

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.