Food Science
Add ComparisonIn 2024, the locations with the highest concentration of Food Science degree recipients are Champaign, IL, Clemson University, SC, and Manhattan, KS. In 2024, the locations with a relatively high number of Food Science degree recipients are Menomonie, WI, New Britain, PA, and Manhattan, KS. The most common degree awarded to students studying Food Science is a bachelors degree.
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Food Science and the types of students that study this field. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign awards the most degrees in Food Science in the US, but Alabama A & M University and University of Wisconsin-Stout have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Food Science.
Tuition costs for Food Science majors are, on average, $9,718 for in-state public colleges, and $51,106 for out of state private colleges.
The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Food Science programs are Public, 4-year or above institutions (56 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (1,384 completions).
The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Food Science, is Public, 4-year or above (1,384 completions in 2024).
The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Food Science programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has the most Food Science degree recipients, with 129 degrees awarded in 2024.
The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Food Science.
Out of all institutions that offer Food Science programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, Alabama A & M University has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Food Science, with 2.77%.
This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Food Science by year.
Information on the businesses and industries that employ Agriculture graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.
The average salary for Agriculture majors is $90,756 and the most common occupations are Farmers, ranchers, & other agricultural managers, Other managers, and Veterinarians.
The industry that employs the most Agriculture majors is Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Railroad rolling stock manufacturing.
The average salary for Agriculture majors is $90,756 and the most common occupations are Farmers, ranchers, & other agricultural managers, Other managers, and Veterinarians.
This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Agriculture majors.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Agriculture majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Agriculture 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 Agriculture majors, by number of employees, are Farmers, ranchers, & other agricultural managers, Other managers, and Veterinarians.
Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Agriculture majors working as Agricultural & food scientists, Veterinarians, and Agricultural inspectors.
The highest paid occupations by median income for Agriculture majors are Cardiovascular technologists and technicians, Surgeons, and Physicians.
The number of Agriculture graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.2%, from 577,672 in 2023 to 590,363 in 2024.
The largest single share of Agriculture graduates go on to work as Farmers, ranchers, & other agricultural managers (4.91%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Agriculture by share of the total number of graduates.
The most common industries that employ Agriculture majors, by number of employees, are Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Farming, and Elementary & secondary schools.
The highest paying industries of Agriculture majors, by average wage, are Railroad rolling stock manufacturing, Miscellaneous nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing, and Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. .
The number of Agriculture graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.2%, from 577,672 in 2023 to 590,363 in 2024.
The industry which employs the most Agriculture graduates by share is Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, followed by Farming. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Agriculture.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Agriculture majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Agriculture 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 Agriculture in the United States.
The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Agriculture is 43.6.
The most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Female employees are more likely to hold Agriculture degrees, and White students are the most common race/ethnicty group awarded degrees in Agriculture (712 students).
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Agriculture. The most common ages of employees with this major are 27 and 28 years old, which represent 2.95% and 2.91% of the population, respectively.
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Food Science are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Research Doctorate.
The most common degree types held by the working population in Agriculture are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Doctorate degree.
This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Food Science.
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Food Science 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 Food Science.
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 Uganda that hold Agriculture degrees (5.76 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 (8,469 degree recipients).
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Food Science field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food Science majors need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Food Science majors need more than the average amount of Quality Control Analysis, Equipment Selection, and Operation and Control.
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 Food Science 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 Quality Control Analysis is very distinctive for majors, but the Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning are the three most important skills for people in the field.
