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🇺🇸 Best Economics Programs in United States by ROI
Ranked by ROI score — net salary after rent and living costs, weighted by graduation rate, relative to total degree tuition. Salary figures are median graduate earnings from government data (2026).
| # | University | ROI | Salary ($) | Payback | Tuition ($/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Economics. | 32.1 | $63,984 | 3 yrs | $36,786 |
| 2 | Rice University Economics. | 30.2 | $63,984 | 3 yrs | $37,436 |
| 3 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Business/Managerial Economics. | 30.0 | $58,108 | 3 yrs | $33,925 |
| 4 | University of Chicago Economics. | 28.3 | $63,984 | 3 yrs | $41,608 |
| 5 | Vanderbilt University Economics. | 26.5 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $44,369 |
| 6 | Purdue University-Main Campus Economics. | 25.8 | $63,984 | 3 yrs | $40,880 |
| 7 | University of California-Los Angeles Economics. | 25.1 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $35,134 |
| 8 | University of Georgia Business/Managerial Economics. | 24.9 | $58,108 | 4 yrs | $39,021 |
| 9 | University of Wisconsin-Madison Economics. | 23.5 | $64,323 | 4 yrs | $48,591 |
| 10 | University of California-Berkeley Economics. | 23.4 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $37,747 |
| 11 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Economics. | 23.0 | $63,984 | 3 yrs | $42,840 |
| 12 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus Economics. | 22.9 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $39,455 |
| 13 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Economics. | 22.8 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $46,978 |
| 14 | Stanford University Economics. | 22.7 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $38,660 |
| 15 | Ohio State University-Main Campus Economics. | 22.7 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $48,549 |
| 16 | Indiana University-Bloomington Economics. | 22.5 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $45,539 |
| 17 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Economics. | 21.7 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $48,448 |
| 18 | University of California-San Diego Economics. | 21.4 | $60,412 | 4 yrs | $34,916 |
| 19 | University of Maryland-College Park Economics. | 19.8 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $43,898 |
| 20 | University of California-Davis Economics. | 19.7 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $41,275 |
| 21 | University of Houston Economics. | 19.3 | $63,984 | 3 yrs | $39,973 |
| 22 | Harvard University Economics. | 19.0 | $63,984 | 5 yrs | $53,385 |
| 23 | University of California-Riverside Economics. | 18.1 | $63,984 | 4 yrs | $40,051 |
| 24 | University of California-Santa Barbara Economics. | 17.7 | $63,984 | 5 yrs | $45,105 |
| 25 | Johns Hopkins University Economics. | 17.6 | $63,984 | 5 yrs | $52,665 |