Communications
Contains Stem Majors
Add ComparisonIn 2024, the locations with the highest concentration of Communications degree recipients are New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, and Boston, MA. In 2024, the locations with a relatively high number of Communications degree recipients are Norwood, OH, Valley View, OH, and Whitehall, OH. The most common degree awarded to students studying Communications is a bachelors degree.
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Communications and the types of students that study this field. The University of Texas at Austin awards the most degrees in Communications in the US, but Colorado Media School and Illinois Media School have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Communications.
Tuition costs for Communications majors are, on average, $7,773 for in-state public colleges, and $38,400 for out of state private colleges.
The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Communications programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (755 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (69,230 completions).
The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Communications, is Public, 4-year or above (69,230 completions in 2024).
The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Communications programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.
The University of Texas at Austin has the most Communications degree recipients, with 1,289 degrees awarded in 2024.
The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Communications.
Out of all institutions that offer Communications programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, Colorado Media School has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Communications, with 100%.
This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Communications by year.
Information on the businesses and industries that employ Communications graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.
The average salary for Communications majors is $92,774 and the most common occupations are Other managers, Marketing managers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.
The industry that employs the most Communications majors is Elementary & secondary schools, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing.
The average salary for Communications majors is $92,774 and the most common occupations are Other managers, Marketing managers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.
This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Communications majors.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Communications majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Communications majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.
The most common occupations for Communications majors, by number of employees, are Other managers, Marketing managers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.
Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Communications majors working as News analysts, reporters & correspondents, Public relations specialists, and Public relations & fundraising managers.
The highest paid occupations by median income for Communications majors are Surgeons, Physicians, and Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists.
The number of Communications graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.21%, from 2.52M in 2023 to 2.6M in 2024.
The largest single share of Communications graduates go on to work as Other managers (5.17%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Communications by share of the total number of graduates.
The most common industries that employ Communications majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, and Computer Systems Design.
The highest paying industries of Communications majors, by average wage, are Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing, Oil & gas extraction, and Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals.
The number of Communications graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.21%, from 2.52M in 2023 to 2.6M in 2024.
The industry which employs the most Communications graduates by share is Elementary & secondary schools, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Communications.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Communications majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Communications majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Communications in the United States.
The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Communications is 41.1.
The most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Female employees are more likely to hold Communications degrees, and White students are the most common race/ethnicty group awarded degrees in Communications (56,535 students).
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Communications. The most common ages of employees with this major are 30 and 29 years old, which represent 3.19% and 3.16% of the population, respectively.
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Communications are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
The most common degree types held by the working population in Communications are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.
This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Communications.
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Communications for each race & ethnicity.
In 2024, White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.
This chart illustrates the differences by sex for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Communications.
White Female students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and sex.
There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Samoa that hold Communications degrees (7 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is Mexico (19,582 degree recipients).
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Communications field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Communications majors need many skills, but most especially Speaking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Communications majors need more than the average amount of Management of Financial Resources, Social Perceptiveness, and Negotiation.
These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Communications majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Management of Financial Resources is very distinctive for majors, but the Speaking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension are the three most important skills for people in the field.