Economics - General

Starting Salaries for Academic Economists

What is the typical salary of an Economist just after they finish graduate school? This question is of particular interest to me personally, since I am going on the job market this year.

Below are some of the results from the Survey of the Labor Market for New Ph.D. Hires in Economics, from the University of Arkansas School of Business. The data are from new hires in 2006.

Institution Type
PhD Top 30 (PhD) Bachelors/Masters All
Mean Actual Offer $85,565 $95,193 $65,316 $76,649
Mean Expected Offer $84,070 $92,750 $65,520 $74,845
Actual Less Expected $1,495 $2,443 -$204 $1,804
Percent Difference 1.8% 2.6% -0.3% 2.4%

The AEA Paper and Proceeding from also has data on new assistant professors salaries for economists as well.

Institution Type Salary Add’l compensation Teaching Load/yr
PhD $86,078 $30,007 3.3 courses
M.A. $70,026 $10,208 4.6 courses
B.A. $60,087 $13,293 5.6 courses

Additional compensation includes guaranteed summer compensation and signing bonus. It does not include fringe benefits.

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