Gen Z graduates are tossing their tassels with six-figure salaries in their eyes. But some won’t be making $50,000—even if they chased college degrees hailed as AI-proof.
While some college majors like liberal arts and performing arts are resulting in rock-bottom salaries, other stable career pathways are handing out the same dismal pay.
Post-grad pharmacy majors aged 22 to 27 with only a bachelor’s degree earned just $40,000, the lowest median income of all college concentrations, according to a new Federal Reserve Bank of New York report analyzing 2024 U.S. census data.
And the “AI proof” healthcare degree might not be worth the price tag; pharmacy’s early-career payout is thousands of dollars lower than the U.S median income of $45,140, according to Census Bureau data.
Other Gen Z college graduates are feeling the pinch, earning less than the average American; theology and religion majors made $41,600, social services took home $43,000, performing arts earned just $44,000, and liberal arts received just $45,000 in the years following their bachelor’s programs.
And there are more careers touted to withstand AI layoffs and recessionary impacts that also made the list. Teaching has risen in popularity for its job security—especially as AI swipes office roles, and companies enforce sweeping cuts—yet general education ($45,000) and elementary education ($45,000) were among the worst-paid majors after graduation.
Gen Zers who invested four years into a biology undergraduate degree, a STEM pathway positioned to be safe in the tech revolution, only make $45,000 a year.
Professions like education and healthcare have been dubbed ‘AI proof’
Despite potential low pay, healthcare has been heralded as a fast-growing career path safe from both AI disruption and recessionary impacts—leading to an influx of interest and job openings within the profession, while other sectors lay off staffers in droves.
Healthcare is actually one of the key industries expected to grow amid the U.S.’s AI-driven business landscape disruption, according to a 2024 McKinsey report.
Home health, doctor, and nursing job postings have hit a combined 162% growth since pre-pandemic, according to a 2025 report from Indeed. Priya Rathod, career expert at Indeed, told Fortune last year that “Healthcare is a classic recession-resistant industry because medical care is always in demand.”
Even Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said that AI is nowhere near curing cancer, despite optimism from other business leaders that the advanced tech will eradicate all disease. There’s no timeline to remove human workers from the loop in these essential STEM professions.
“If you just ask them to solve biology or chemistry questions, they’re not particularly good at it,” Ricks explained on the Plain English podcast this year. “They’re trained on the human language, not on the language of chemistry, physics, and biology.”
Additionally, teaching is growing in popularity among young graduates in hunt of better job security; the education sector is the fastest-growing industry in the U.K., according to a 2024 LinkedIn analysis. Some roles—like teachers, lecturers, and learning support assistants—have particularly taken off as “being some of the most sought-after roles,” LinkedIn’s career expert Charlotte Davies told Fortune last year.
Over the past three years, Teach for America (TFA), an education non-profit, also experienced a 43% surge in incoming corps members (full-time teachers). And the influx was driven by young workers who see teaching as a career path that is better shielded from what employment challenges lie ahead.
The organization’s chief growth and program officer, Whitney Petersmeyer, told The Guardian that “responding to the opportunity for purpose and responsibility at a time where many entry jobs feel uncertain or disconnected from impact.”
The top 10 worst-paying college majors for recent Gen Z grads
Here are the 10 college majors that lead to the lowest median incomes for Gen Z workers with only a bachelor’s degree, aged 22 to 27, according to the Fed.
- Pharmacy ($40,000)
- Theology and religion ($41,600)
- Social services ($43,000)
- Performing arts ($44,000)
- General education ($45,000)
- Early childhood education ($45,000)
- Elementary education ($45,000)
- Liberal arts ($45,000)
- Biology ($45,000)
- Leisure and hospitality ($45,000)
