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Bachelor's degree

Typical entry-level education · BLS

Bachelor's degree is one of the eight typical entry-level education levels BLS assigns to occupations — the credential most workers have when they enter the job. This level covers 178 occupations employing about 38,438,040 workers, with a median wage of $81,475. It describes the typical path, not a requirement — many people enter by other routes.

What occupations at this level pay

Median annual wage across occupations at this entry-level education, from BLS OEWS (national, cross-industry, May 2024). The middle range shows the 25th–75th percentile of occupation medians — it describes the level, not a guarantee for any one person or job.

Median occupation wage $81,475
Middle range (p25–p75) $65,113 – $104,673
Occupations with wage data 178 of 178

AI exposure at this education level

Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to today's AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks a large language model (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across occupations that typically need this credential it is 47% — 94th percentile of the eight education levels. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages 0.93 here.

Computed across the 166 of 178 occupations at this level that carry a published exposure score.

Across the eight levels, AI exposure rises with education — degree-requiring knowledge work is most exposed, manual and credential-light work least. Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks, not a prediction that these jobs will be automated; high exposure most often means augmentation.

Highest-paying occupations at this level

Occupations whose typical entry-level education is bachelor's degree, with the highest median wage. Wage describes the occupation, not an individual.

Occupation Median pay
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers $226,600
Chief Executives $206,420
Computer and Information Systems Managers $171,200
Architectural and Engineering Managers $167,740
Financial Managers $161,700
Natural Sciences Managers $161,180
Marketing Managers $161,030
Computer Hardware Engineers $155,020
Petroleum Engineers $141,280
Compensation and Benefits Managers $140,360
Human Resources Managers $140,030
Purchasing Managers $139,510
Public Relations Managers $138,520
Medical Dosimetrists $138,110
Sales Managers $138,060
Managers, All Other $136,550
Database Architects $135,980
Aerospace Engineers $134,830
Software Developers $133,080
Computer Network Architects $130,390
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer $127,590
Nuclear Engineers $127,520
Training and Development Managers $127,090
Advertising and Promotions Managers $126,960
Actuaries $125,770

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Bachelor's degree." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/education/bachelor-s-degree

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Bachelor's degree. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/education/bachelor-s-degree

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-bachelor-s-degree,
  title  = {Bachelor's degree},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/education/bachelor-s-degree}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.