Mathematicians - Graduating Seniors

Pay

The median annual wage for mathematicians was $101,360 in May 2012. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $56,040, and the top 10 percent earned more than $152,950.
In May 2012, the median annual wages for mathematicians in the top five industries in which these mathematicians worked were as follows:

Scientific research and development services$118,030
Manufacturing116,860
Federal government106,360
Management of companies and enterprises74,980
Educational services; state, local, and private66,590Most mathematicians work full time. Deadlines and last-minute requests for data or analysis may require overtime. In addition, mathematicians may have to travel to attend seminars and conferences.

Job OutlookEmployment of mathematicians is projected to grow 23 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 800 new jobs over the 10-year period.

The amount of digitally stored data will increase over the next decade as more people and companies conduct business online and use social media, smartphones, and other mobile devices. As a result, businesses will increasingly need mathematicians to analyze the large amount of information and data collected. Analyses will help companies improve their business processes, design and develop new products, and even advertise products to potential customers.
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Mathematicians will also be needed to help information security analysts create data-security systems to protect the confidentiality and personal information of individuals.