Mathematics Major — the most transferable analytical degree

Math opens more high-paying doors than most majors — if you supplement it right. Here's the honest read.

Career fit →

Career paths

  • Quantitative analyst / researcher — $150K+ median (finance)
  • Data scientist — $110K median (with programming skills)
  • Actuary — $110K median
  • Cryptographer / security researcher — $120K median
  • Academic mathematician — $85K median (requires PhD)
  • Math teacher — $65K median (with certification)

The catch

A pure math degree without programming skills has a limited job market. Math + CS or math + statistics + Python opens the highest-paying doors.

Frequently asked questions

Should I do math or CS?

If you want research or quant finance: math + CS minor. If you want general software: CS. If you want data science: statistics + CS is often better than pure math.

Careers this major opens

The US Department of Education maps Mathematics, General (CIP 27.0101) to 7 Standard Occupational Classification codes. Salary and employment figures come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics via O*NET; the AI-durability signal is our own composite score.

Median salary (US)
$103,300
across 7 careers
Salary range
$44,850 – $178,800
p10 → p90 across careers
Avg AI exposure
0.62
43% high-exposure (0-1 scale)
Career Median Employment AI
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
SOC 25-2031
 $64,580 1,094,500 0.41
Data Scientists
SOC 15-2051
 $112,590 245,900 0.68
Natural sciences managers
SOC 11-9121
 $161,180 104,300 0.60
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary
SOC 25-1022
 $79,350 58,900 0.34
Statisticians
SOC 15-2041
 $103,300 32,200 0.72
Mathematical science occupations, all other
SOC 15-2099
 $71,490 5,000 0.81
Mathematicians
SOC 15-2021
 $121,680 2,400 0.81

Sources: NCES CIP-2020 → SOC-2018 crosswalk · US Bureau of Labor Statistics (via O*NET) · WhatTNext Ai AI-durability score. Careers ranked by US employment volume.

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