“STEM career” covers a range of work so wide that the label alone is not much help in deciding anything. A wind-turbine technician, a data scientist and a structural engineer are all counted as STEM, yet they train differently, work in different places and are paid on different scales. Choosing well means looking at the fields underneath the label.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics defines STEM occupations as computer and mathematical, architecture and engineering, and life and physical science occupations, plus managerial and postsecondary teaching roles related to those areas and sales roles requiring scientific or technical knowledge at the postsecondary level. By that definition, STEM employment is projected to grow 7.4 percent from 2025 to 2035, with a 2025 median annual wage of $106,360. The earlier 2024–2034 projections put STEM growth at 8.1 percent against 2.7 percent for non-STEM occupations, and the 2024 STEM median wage at $103,580 against $48,000. The direction is consistent across both releases: faster growth and roughly double the median pay of the rest of the economy.
Those are averages across millions of jobs, and an average does not tell any one student what to do. The sections below break it down.
The Main Fields and What Each Looks Like
The figures below come from BLS 2024–2034 projections and 2024 median wages. They describe occupations, not guarantees for any individual graduate.
Computing and Information Security
The largest concentration of STEM jobs. Information security analysts are projected to grow 28.5 percent over 2024–2034, among the fastest rates BLS tracks. Computer and information systems managers earn a median of $171,200, though that is a management role reached after experience, not an entry point. Routes in include a degree, but also certifications and bootcamps; the trade-offs are set out in our comparison of bootcamps and computer science degrees.
Data and Mathematics
BLS projects data scientist employment to grow 34 percent, adding about 82,500 jobs, with a 2024 median wage of $112,590. Actuaries are projected to grow 22 percent at a median of $125,770, and operations research analysts 21 percent at $91,290. Mathematicians and statisticians grow more slowly, at 8 percent, with a median of $104,350. This field rewards quantitative depth and typically asks for at least a bachelor’s degree. The fast-moving machine-learning end of it is covered in AI and machine learning careers.
Engineering
Engineering is a family of distinct disciplines rather than one career. BLS 2024 medians run from $84,630 for agricultural engineers to $155,020 for computer hardware engineers, with petroleum engineers at $141,280 and aerospace engineers at $134,830. Eleven of the seventeen engineering occupations BLS reviews are projected to grow faster than the 3.1 percent average for all occupations; industrial engineering leads at 11.0 percent and mechanical at 9.1 percent, while nuclear engineering is projected to dip slightly. Civil engineers are the largest group, at roughly 369,000 jobs in 2024.
Physical and Life Sciences
Pay varies widely here. Physicists had a 2024 median of $166,290 and astronomers $132,170, but those are small occupations. Epidemiologists are projected to grow 16.2 percent. The decision in these fields often hinges on how much graduate study you are willing to do, so check the typical entry requirement for the specific occupation on its BLS profile.
Skilled Technical Roles
Not every STEM-adjacent career requires a four-year degree. Wind turbine and solar installation work is among the fastest-growing in the economy; see STEM careers without a bachelor’s degree for the figures and training routes.
How to Choose
- Start from the work, not the salary. Pay gaps between fields are real, but a high median is no use if the daily work does not hold your attention for years. Read BLS occupational profiles for what people in the role actually do.
- Check the entry requirement. The same field can require a certification, a bachelor’s degree or a doctorate depending on the role. That determines cost and time before you earn.
- Treat growth rates with context. A fast percentage on a small base can mean few openings; a modest percentage on a large base, such as civil engineering, can mean many.
- Test it cheaply first. A summer research placement, an internship or a short course tells you more than a job description does. Undergraduates can look at the funded research route in our NSF REU guide.
- Plan for the money. Scholarships by field are covered in the computer science scholarships guide, and the pay side of the picture in highest-paying STEM careers.
- Keep the choice reversible. Early coursework in mathematics, programming and statistics transfers across most of these fields, so a first-year decision is less final than it feels.
Projections are estimates and labour markets shift; the 2025–2035 release already trims the STEM growth rate relative to the previous one. Use the figures to compare fields against each other, and confirm current numbers on the BLS pages before making a costly decision.
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