UW-Madison Career Outcomes: $79K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do UW-Madison graduates earn?

The reported median is $78,974 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $65,610 as its benchmark; the difference is $13,364 per year.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $78,974, at the 87th percentile. That is $13,364 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the return in the 86th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,892 less than expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 44th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $13,004.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,896. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,603.

The earnings scenarios span from $56,127 to $111,303, a range that reflects variation across the university's program clusters. The typical earnings scenario lands at $78,974.

These scenario values are modeled from the program mix and do not represent observed graduate cohorts. Program-level medians illustrate the dispersion.

Computer and Information Sciences, the largest field by degrees awarded, records median earnings of $119,655 four years after completion. Finance shows a median of $107,207, while Economics completers earn $85,366.

An estimated 33.4% 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: $78,974
Rank for difference from expectations: 44th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

UW-Madison reported median: $78,974
Peer schools comparable schools · $13,364 below UW-Madison: $65,610
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $2,892 above UW-Madison: $81,866

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 UW-Madison students return and finish their degrees?

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

Returned the following fall: 96.3%
Completed within six years: 89.7%
Pell recipients completed within six years: 85.7%

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention; B4–B11 six-year completion. Retention and completion follow different entering cohorts.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $56,127
Median · reported: $78,974
Higher estimate: $111,303

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 UW-Madison 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.

UW-Madison graduates’ reported earnings are $2,892 below that expectation, the 44th 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 UW-Madison caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at UW-Madison report the highest earnings?

Azimuth ranks 61 programs at University of Wisconsin-Madison nationally, and the earnings spread across the largest fields is wide. Computer and Information Sciences is the biggest program, with 733 degrees awarded and a median of $119,655 four years after completion, placing it #20 in its field.

Finance follows at $107,207 and ranks #21 nationally on 463 degrees awarded. Further down the earnings scale, Economics reports a median of $85,366 and an Azimuth national rank of #69 with 546 degrees awarded, while Psychology reaches $58,901 and ranks #43 on 495 degrees awarded.

The contrast between the highest- and moderate-earning fields reflects the mix of technical and social-science programs that define the university's degree portfolio.

The university's strongest national rankings sit outside its largest programs. Insurance ranks #1 in its field, with 144 degrees awarded and median earnings of $105,992 four years after completion.

Real Estate follows at #2 nationally in its field, awarding 186 degrees and a median of $120,483. Agricultural Public Services holds a national rank of #2 in its field with 61 degrees awarded.

Among the largest programs, Computer and Information Sciences awards 733 degrees and ranks #20 nationally, with graduates earning a median of $119,655. Finance ranks #21 and posts a median of $107,207 across 463 degrees awarded.

In all, University of Wisconsin-Madison has 61 nationally ranked programs and earnings data for 70 fields.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the university's program mix show a downside of $56,127, a typical outcome of $78,974, and an upside of $111,303. Anchoring that spread in named programs, the highest-earning field, Real Estate, reaches $120,483 four years after completion, while among the largest programs Psychology sits at $58,901.

Azimuth ranks University of Wisconsin-Madison #56 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the mobility pillar in the 96th percentile among the same cohort.

Mobility is the university's strongest pillar. Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled record a median of $78,974.

That figure sits in the 87th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The earnings cohort covers 5,270 completers.

The median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $65,610, and University of Wisconsin-Madison sits above that level by $13,364. Earnings scenarios based on the program mix show a typical outcome of $78,974, a downside scenario of $56,127, and an upside scenario of $111,303.

An estimated 33.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the program mix.

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.