Wake Forest University Outcomes: $93K Median Earnings (2026)

How much do Wake Forest University graduates earn?

The reported median is $92,943 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is $24,693 per year.

Return is the strongest at Wake Forest University, landing at the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings figure sits at $92,943 four years after completion.

That is at the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That is $24,693 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Graduates earn about $8,836 more than expects for similar students, a result that places the gap at the 81st percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,210.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $1,374. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,534.

The earnings scenarios show a wide spread: from $57,872 on the downside to $131,137 on the upside. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

At the higher end, Management Science graduates earn $146,608 four years after completion, from 18 degrees awarded a year. Finance follows at $145,996, with 147 degrees awarded.

An estimated 34.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, so those continuing their education are outside that earnings snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $92,943
Rank for difference from expectations: 80th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Wake Forest University reported median: $92,943
Peer schools comparable schools · $24,693 below Wake Forest University: $68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $8,836 below Wake Forest University: $84,107

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 Wake Forest University students return and finish their degrees?

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

Returned the following fall: 92.0%
Completed within six years: 90.3%
Pell recipients completed within six years: 84.3%

Source: Wake Forest University 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: $57,872
Median · reported: $92,943
Higher estimate: $131,137

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 Wake Forest University 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.

Wake Forest University graduates’ reported earnings are $8,836 above that expectation, the 80th 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 Wake Forest University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Wake Forest University report the highest earnings?

The highest-earning programs at Wake Forest University are concentrated in business and quantitative fields, and the earnings spread between the top and the more moderate programs is substantial. Management Science leads with median earnings of $146,608 four years after completion, though it awards only 18 degrees a year.

Finance is both the second-largest program and the second-highest earner, with 147 degrees awarded and median earnings of $145,996; Azimuth ranks it #6 nationally in its field. The largest program, Business/Commerce, awards 154 degrees and posts median earnings of $118,167, ranking #3 nationally.

By contrast, Political Science awards 133 degrees with median earnings of $85,668, a more moderate figure that still ranks #25 nationally.

Business accounts for 22.4% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Social Sciences at 20.6%. The university has 11 nationally ranked program and 13 programs with earnings data.

Business/Commerce is the largest program, at 154 degrees a year, with median earnings of $118,167 four years after completion. Finance is close behind at 147 degrees and higher earnings of $145,996.

The highest-earning program is Management Science, at $146,608, though it awards only 18 degrees a year. Business/Commerce is the best nationally ranked program, at #3 in its field and #1 in North Carolina.

Its median earnings are $118,167 four years after completion, and it awards 154 degrees.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from a downside of $57,872 to a typical outcome of $92,943 and an upside of $131,137. The spread is wide: Management Science graduates earn $146,608 four years out, while among the largest programs, Communication and Media Studies stands at $77,984.

The median early-career paycheck at Wake Forest University is $92,943 for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled four years after completion. The peer median is the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That median sits $24,693 above the peer median of $68,250. Graduates earn about $8,836 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 81st percentile.

That median lands in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawn from 945 completers. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, stretch from $57,872 on the downside to $131,137 on the upside, with $92,943 as the typical outcome.

An estimated 34.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. The four-year earnings figure reflects only the wage-earning path.

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.