Is a Anthropology degree worth it?
Across 177 schools, graduates of Anthropology earn a median $45,584 five years out on $20,500 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists (modeled from the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$45,584
Median debt
$20,500
Years to pay off
4.5
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
51%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+9%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
-0.4%
$49,004 vs $49,207
Net price
$18,397/yr
Debt-test failures
11%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$19,737
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Anthropology 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.