Highest Paying College Professor Jobs Of 2023

Not all professors are paid the same. Based on our analysis of BLS data, college professors who … [+] teach in the scientific fields tend to, on average, make the most money.

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It is fairly common knowledge among Americans that working in the education sector can be qualitatively fulfilling, but in terms of pay, very underwhelming. Low pay for educators is just one of many factors helping contribute to an increasing shortage of teachers in the United States. Hence why, if you find yourself very drawn to education as a career, you may want to consider teaching on the college level, or postsecondary, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) refers to it. In order to identify the highest paying college professor jobs, we analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), and honed in in on occupations that fall into their category Educational Instruction and Library Occupations, with specific attention to postsecondary — that is college-level — teaching roles.

Read on to find out the occupations with the best average college professor salary in 2023.

15 Highest Paying College Professor Jobs in 2023

Looking at the positions that have the highest average professor salary, one of the main commonalities that jumped out was being a professor in some field of the sciences. Not all of the highest paying professor positions are in the sciences, yet 9 out of the top 15 do fall in this category. According to the OES, the average annual wage for Postsecondary Teachers is $96,130 — well above the annual average wage for All Occupations, $61,900. But within that broad category of Postsecondary Teachers lies substantial variations in the typical college professor salary.

For example, the postsecondary position with the lowest average professor salary is Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary, with an annual mean wage of $65,500. From there, it’s a sizable jump to the second lowest paying college professor position: Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary, which earn $75,330 a year on average. In general, humanities professors tend to make less than their counterparts in the sciences, law, and other specialized fields.

Below is a breakdown of the top 10 highest paying college professor jobs in the U.S.

1. Law Professors

Average Annual Law Professor Salary: $133,950
75^th Percentile Annual Law Professor Salary: $176,900
Total Employment: 14,830

2. Health Specialties Professors

Average Annual Health Specialties Professor Salary: $127,640
75^th Percentile Annual Health Specialties Professor Salary: $167,120
Total Employment: 207,700

3. Economics Professors

Average Annual Economics Professor Salary: $122,750
75^th Percentile Annual Economics Professor Salary: $144,980
Total Employment: 11,640

4. Engineering Professors

Average Annual Engineering Professor Salary: $114,470
75^th Percentile Annual Engineering Professor Salary: $136,530
Total Employment: 36,010

5. Business Professors

Average Annual Business Professor Salary: $108,060
75^th Percentile Annual Engineering Professor Salary: $133,750
Total Employment: 78,410

6. Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Professors

Average Annual Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Professor Salary: $107,540
75^th Percentile Annual Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Professor Salary: $131,650
Total Employment: 11,150

7. Architecture Professors

Average Annual Architecture Professor Salary: $104,370
75^th Percentile Annual Architecture Professor Salary: $128,980
Total Employment: 6,420

8. Physics Professors

Average Annual Physics Professor Salary: $100,810
75^th Percentile Annual Physics Professor Salary: $125,950
Total Employment: 12,860

9. Anthropology and Archeology Professors

Average Annual Anthropology and Archeology Professor Salary: $98,940
75^th Percentile Annual Anthropology and Archeology Professor Salary: $119,590
Total Employment: 4,930

10. Computer Science Professors

Average Annual Computer Science Professor Salary: $98,610
75^th Percentile Annual Computer Science Professor Salary: $125,790
Total Employment: 33,870

11. Political Science Professors

Average Annual Political Science Professor Salary: $98,420
75^th Percentile Annual Political Science Professor Salary: $122,090
Total Employment: 15,190

12. Forestry and Conservation Science Professors

Average Annual Forestry and Conservation Science Professor Salary: $98,160
75^th Percentile Annual Forestry and Conservation Science Professor Salary: $115,980
Total Employment: 1,270

13. Biological Science Professors

Average Annual Biological Science Professor Salary: $97,800
75^th Percentile Annual Biological Science Professor Salary: $121,530
Total Employment: 49,920

14. Agricultural Sciences Professors

Average Annual Agricultural Sciences Professor Salary: $96,650
75^th Percentile Annual Agricultural Sciences Professor Salary: $118,620
Total Employment: 8,240

15. Chemistry Professors

Average Annual Chemistry Professor Salary: $95,250
75^th Percentile Annual Chemistry Professor Salary: $108,000
Total Employment: 20,650

Trends in the Highest Paying College Professor Jobs

As already pointed out, being a professor in one of the scientific fields seems to translate, in general, to higher earnings than other educational fields. The postsecondary occupation with the best average professor salary is Law Professors, who on average earn well over double the average annual salary for All Occupations ($133,950 versus $61,900). The second highest paying is being a Health Specialties Professor; this category sounds vague, but it includes notable healthcare fields, such as dentistry, laboratory technology, medicine, pharmacy, public health, therapy, and veterinary medicine. And in a capitalist and financially-obsessed country like the U.S., it isn’t too surprising Economics Professors come in at No. 3, earning an average annual wage of $122,750.

Below you’ll find a table of all the postsecondary teaching jobs in the U.S. that the BLS has wage data for. Included in the table are the occupation titles, average annual wages, and change over the last five years:

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