Best degree programs for Historians, ranked by enrollment
20 college programs and 1,365 schools train Historians. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $76,750 median wage, 3,450 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
20 college programs at 1,365 schools train historians, graduating 30,466 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is History, General. The job pays a median of $76,750 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About historians
Research, analyze, record, and interpret the past as recorded in sources, such as government and institutional records, newspapers and other periodicals, photographs, interviews, films, electronic media, and unpublished manuscripts, such as personal diaries and letters.
A historian is a scholar who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. Some historians are recognized by publications or training and experience. "Historian" became a professional occupation in the late nineteenth century as research universities were emerging in Germany. The professionalization process spread to Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Russia, Scandinavia, Greece, Romania, and Latin America, with each adapting the German model with local modifications.
Read more on Wikipedia →Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
20 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | History, Generalmain feeder CIP 54.0101 | 26,654 | 87.5% | 1,333 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 2 | Public/Applied Historymain feeder CIP 54.0105 | 892 | 2.9% | 51 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 3 | History, Othermain feeder CIP 54.0199 | 542 | 1.8% | 44 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 4 | CIP 51.3204 | 415 | 1.4% | 31 | $99,851 | $21,475 |
| 5 | CIP 30.1201 | 355 | 1.2% | 44 | $35,326 | $22,812 |
| 6 | Military Historymain feeder CIP 54.0108 | 287 | 0.9% | 11 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 7 | American History (United States)main feeder CIP 54.0102 | 268 | 0.9% | 6 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 8 | CIP 54.0104 | 207 | 0.7% | 19 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 9 | CIP 30.2202 | 145 | 0.5% | 29 | $32,054 | $24,000 |
| 10 | Architectural History and Criticism, Generalmain feeder CIP 04.0801 | 129 | 0.4% | 16 | $30,189 | $25,000 |
| 11 | CIP 30.4601 | 109 | 0.4% | 21 | — | — |
| 12 | Medieval and Renaissance Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.1301 | 106 | 0.3% | 28 | — | — |
| 13 | CIP 30.2201 | 105 | 0.3% | 27 | $32,054 | $24,000 |
| 14 | Holocaust and Related Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.2101 | 94 | 0.3% | 12 | — | — |
| 15 | Maritime Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.2901 | 63 | 0.2% | 7 | $32,325 | $23,478 |
| 16 | CIP 30.1202 | 59 | 0.2% | 20 | $35,326 | $22,812 |
| 17 | CIP 30.1299 | 18 | 0.1% | 5 | $35,326 | $22,812 |
| 18 | European Historymain feeder CIP 54.0103 | 9 | 0.0% | 3 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 19 | Architectural Conservationmain feeder CIP 04.0802 | 7 | 0.0% | 1 | $30,189 | $25,000 |
| 20 | CIP 30.2299 | 2 | 0.0% | 1 | $32,054 | $24,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brigham Young University - Idaho Rexburg, ID Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 696 | Public/Applied History | 55% | $6,760 | 96% |
| 2 | Liberty University Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 628 | History, General | 65% | $28,911 | 99% |
| 3 | Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 566 | History, General | 43% | $34,565 | 100% |
| 4 | American Public University System Charles Town, WV Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 364 | History, General | 57% | $10,199 | — |
| 5 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ Public · 4 feeder programs | 313 | History, General | 0% | — | 67% |
| 6 | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 4 feeder programs | 277 | History, General | 90% | — | 45% |
| 7 | Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 242 | American History (United States) | 83% | $24,453 | 39% |
| 8 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 242 | History, General | 93% | — | 9% |
| 9 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 238 | History, General | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 10 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 235 | History, General | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 11 | Yale University New Haven, CT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 204 | History, General | 96% | $27,025 | 4% |
| 12 | The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 180 | History, General | 53% | — | 87% |
| 13 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 178 | History, General | 83% | — | 33% |
| 14 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 4 feeder programs | 170 | History, General | 84% | — | 57% |
| 15 | Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 166 | History, General | 43% | $21,535 | 79% |
| 16 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 151 | History, General | 93% | — | 11% |
| 17 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 148 | History, General | 69% | — | 46% |
| 18 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 144 | History, General | 85% | — | 39% |
| 19 | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 140 | History, General | 89% | — | 34% |
| 20 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 136 | History, General | 89% | — | 27% |
| 21 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 135 | History, General | 78% | — | 40% |
| 22 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 134 | History, General | 65% | — | 88% |
| 23 | University of North Texas Denton, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 133 | History, General | 61% | — | 72% |
| 24 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 132 | History, General | 56% | — | 94% |
| 25 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 131 | History, General | 70% | — | 91% |
| 26 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 131 | History, General | 43% | — | 91% |
| 27 | University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD Public · 1 feeder programs | 131 | History, General | 33% | — | — |
| 28 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 130 | History, General | 91% | — | 24% |
| 29 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 128 | History, General | 98% | $13,729 | 5% |
| 30 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 127 | History, General | 86% | — | 42% |
| 31 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs | 124 | History, General | 68% | — | 90% |
| 32 | University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA Public · 2 feeder programs | 124 | History, General | 96% | — | 17% |
| 33 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 115 | History, General | 76% | — | 36% |
| 34 | University of Georgia Athens, GA Public · 2 feeder programs | 115 | History, General | 90% | — | 38% |
| 35 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 115 | History, General | 77% | — | 43% |
| 36 | Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 114 | History, General | 88% | — | 61% |
| 37 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 112 | History, General | 85% | — | 58% |
| 38 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 111 | History, General | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 39 | Texas State University San Marcos, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 111 | History, General | 55% | — | 89% |
| 40 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 109 | History, General | 57% | — | 95% |
| 41 | Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 109 | History, General | 55% | — | 90% |
| 42 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 4 feeder programs | 109 | History, General | 93% | — | 16% |
| 43 | Baylor University Waco, TX Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 107 | Medical/Health Humanities | 80% | $35,682 | 51% |
| 44 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA Public · 3 feeder programs | 107 | History, General | 68% | — | 87% |
| 45 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 103 | History, General | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 46 | Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs | 103 | History, General | 84% | — | 58% |
| 47 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 103 | History, General | 85% | — | 42% |
| 48 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 102 | History, General | 69% | — | 80% |
| 49 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 3 feeder programs | 101 | History, General | 87% | — | 38% |
| 50 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 100 | History, General | 57% | — | 93% |
What historians earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $97,420 | 210 | 0.52× | 176 | 4,794 |
| Texas | $78,240 | 130 | 0.41× | 79 | 2,125 |
| New York | $62,960 | 410 | 1.90× | 89 | 2,096 |
| Virginia | $101,920 | 180 | 1.99× | 40 | 1,588 |
| Pennsylvania | $71,970 | 70 | 0.53× | 83 | 1,392 |
| Massachusetts | $121,710 | — | — | 48 | 1,205 |
| Illinois | $89,670 | — | — | 44 | 895 |
| North Carolina | $73,440 | 120 | 1.05× | 44 | 847 |
| Florida | $74,740 | 110 | 0.52× | 28 | 834 |
| Ohio | $60,350 | — | — | 57 | 829 |
| New Jersey | $77,080 | 130 | 1.39× | 26 | 767 |
| Georgia | $63,840 | 110 | 1.05× | 41 | 658 |
| Wisconsin | $45,810 | 50 | 0.78× | 25 | 592 |
| Maryland | $120,580 | 50 | 0.74× | 21 | 558 |
| Washington | $99,720 | 30 | 0.41× | 17 | 554 |
| Michigan | $62,920 | 80 | 0.82× | 29 | 538 |
| Connecticut | $66,770 | 40 | 1.03× | 17 | 529 |
| Indiana | $63,770 | 30 | 0.49× | 34 | 519 |
| Tennessee | $71,080 | 40 | 0.56× | 32 | 467 |
| Missouri | $64,230 | 50 | 0.71× | 33 | 434 |
| South Carolina | $52,120 | 60 | 1.11× | 23 | 429 |
| Alabama | $72,490 | 60 | 1.20× | 22 | 357 |
| Oregon | $99,560 | 40 | 0.88× | 15 | 356 |
| Louisiana | $80,620 | 60 | 1.37× | 19 | 321 |
| Kentucky | $63,530 | 50 | 1.06× | 22 | 313 |
| Minnesota | $103,040 | 50 | 0.73× | 25 | 291 |
| Utah | $33,840 | 80 | 2.20× | 9 | 287 |
| Oklahoma | $50,980 | 50 | 1.44× | 21 | 211 |
| District of Columbia | $118,290 | 250 | 16.30× | 6 | 207 |
| Kansas | $72,600 | 40 | 1.15× | 18 | 190 |
| Mississippi | $46,010 | 90 | 3.37× | 17 | 173 |
| Nebraska | $70,050 | 30 | 1.53× | 14 | 165 |
| Nevada | $80,140 | — | — | 5 | 106 |
| New Mexico | $66,790 | 40 | 2.16× | 6 | 87 |
| Hawaii | $92,520 | 70 | 4.86× | 5 | 62 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Gather historical data from sources such as archives, court records, diaries, news files, and photographs, as well as from books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
- Organize data, and analyze and interpret its authenticity and relative significance.
- Prepare publications and exhibits, or review those prepared by others, to ensure their historical accuracy.
- Organize information for publication and for other means of dissemination, such as via storage media or the Internet.
- Conduct historical research as a basis for the identification, conservation, and reconstruction of historic places and materials.
- Conserve and preserve manuscripts, records, and other artifacts.
- Present historical accounts in terms of individuals or social, ethnic, political, economic, or geographic groupings.
- Research the history of a particular country or region, or of a specific time period.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.8
- Writing4.1
- Critical Thinking4.1
- Active Learning4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Speaking4.0
- Learning Strategies3.3
- Monitoring3.0
Knowledge areas
- History and Archeology4.6
- English Language4.1
- Sociology and Anthropology3.6
- Geography3.5
- Administrative3.5
- Education and Training3.3
Abilities
- Written Comprehension4.9
- Written Expression4.3
- Oral Expression4.0
- Near Vision4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Inductive Reasoning3.9
Core activities
- Getting Information4.6
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.5
- Working with Computers4.3
- Processing Information4.1
- Communicating with People Outside the Organization4.1
- Documenting/Recording Information4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Historian
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 24 majors mapped to Historians20 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 04.0801Architectural History and Criticism, General
- 04.0802Architectural Conservation
- 30.1201Historic Preservation and Conservation, General
- 30.1202Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis
- 30.1299Historic Preservation and Conservation, Other
- 30.1301Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- 30.2101Holocaust and Related Studies
- 30.2201Ancient Studies/Civilization
- 30.2202Classical, Ancient Mediterranean, and Near Eastern Studies and Archaeology
- 30.2299Classical and Ancient Studies, Other
- 30.2901Maritime Studies
- 30.4501History and Language/Literature(no graduates reported)
- 30.4601History and Political Science
- 51.3204Medical/Health Humanities
- 51.3205History of Medicine(no graduates reported)
- 54.0101History, General
- 54.0102American History (United States)
- 54.0103European History
- 54.0104History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
- 54.0105Public/Applied History
- 54.0106Asian History(no graduates reported)
- 54.0107Canadian History(no graduates reported)
- 54.0108Military History
- 54.0199History, Other
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Historian?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is History, General, which awarded 26,654 degrees in 2024-25, 87.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Historian?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 20 programs to this occupation. The largest are History, Historic Preservation and Conservation, Health Professions Education, Classical and Ancient Studies, plus 5 more. Together they graduate about 30,466 people a year.
How much do historians earn?+
The median is $76,750 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $42,730 at the 10th percentile to $131,810 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for historians growing?+
BLS projects a +2.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1,365 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 20 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do historians work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Historian, Researcher, Collections Specialist, Historical Interpreter among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3093.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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