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Computing careers by the numbers

Will There Be Jobs When You Graduate?

The federal government's own projections say computing jobs will keep growing through 2035, at about twice the pace of the U.S. job market overall.

Projected change in employment, 2025–2035. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Computing jobs" is the BLS computer and mathematical occupations group, which also includes a smaller number of math jobs such as statisticians and actuaries.

The Data in Two Minutes

Question 1 of 3

What Jobs Does Each Major Lead To?

Short answer: every major connects to jobs that are growing faster than average and pay more than twice the typical U.S. salary.

The government tracks jobs, not majors, so we matched each major to the jobs its graduates most often take. Paths overlap, and graduates aren't limited to these. Pick a major:

The dark line on each bar marks the average for all U.S. jobs.

How the Six Jobs Compare

Where They Rank Nationally

BLS ranks hundreds of occupations. Four of these six make its top-20 lists.

Fastest-growing jobs
  1. No. 3Data scientists
  2. No. 8Computer and information research scientists
  3. No. 12Information security analysts
Most new jobs added
  1. No. 6Software developers
  2. No. 15Data scientists

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tables 1.3 and 1.4, 2025–2035 projections

How to read these numbers

Growth is the projected change in the number of jobs from 2025 to 2035. Openings are the average number of positions expected to open each year, from new jobs plus people retiring or changing careers. Pay is the 2025 national median: half of workers earn more, half less.

The government has no job category named for AI or quantum computing, so for those majors we show the established occupations where that work is counted.

Question 2 of 3

Is This a Trend That Will Last?

Short answer: computing jobs have grown steadily for 15 years, from 3.28 million in 2010 to 5.26 million in 2025, and are projected to keep growing.

Number of computing jobs

MeasuredProjected

Average yearly pay in computing

Measured
Notes on these charts

Both charts cover the BLS "computer and mathematical occupations" group. The measured line and the projection come from two BLS programs that count slightly differently, which is why they start from different 2025 values. Read the projection for its direction.

Pay is the mean annual wage in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation.

Question 3 of 3

What About the Tough Job Market in the News?

Short answer: it's real. Landing a first job is harder right now for new graduates of every major. But computing graduates are far more likely to end up in jobs that use their degree, and ups and downs like this have happened before.

The Numbers Right Now

5.6%

Unemployment among all recent college graduates, ages 22–27, second quarter of 2026. Essentially unchanged since the end of 2025.

42%

Of working recent graduates, all majors, are in jobs that don't typically require a degree (second quarter of 2026).

16.5%

The same measure for computer science majors (2023), one of the lowest of any major.

One more thing to know: in the same New York Fed data, unemployment for recent computer science graduates has run somewhat above the all-majors average, a sign that the first job search in tech has become more competitive.

What "42% Underemployed" Really Means

It does not mean 42% can't find work. It counts graduates who have a job, but one that doesn't typically require a bachelor's degree. Many of those jobs are skilled and reasonably paid, and for many people they're a first step early in a career.

42 in jobs that don't typically require a degree58 in jobs that do

Every 100 working recent graduates, all majors, 2026.

Ups and Downs Have Happened Before

Unemployment among young computing graduates has moved with the economy for years, between 2.7% and 5.6% from 2010 to 2022. A hard year for new graduates isn't new, and it shouldn't automatically be blamed on any single cause, including AI.

Unemployment rate, computing graduates ages 25–29

Notes on these numbers

Unemployment and underemployment can't be added together. Unemployment counts graduates without a job; underemployment describes the jobs of graduates who are working. So 5.6% plus 42% does not mean nearly half of graduates are struggling.

The 42% and 16.5% figures come from different years, so read them as showing that the overall average doesn't apply equally to every field, not as a same-year comparison. The 16.5% figure is from a 2025 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis of New York Fed data.

The historical chart covers bachelor's degree holders in computer and information sciences (NCES Table 505.10). 2022 is the latest year published in that series.

The Bottom Line

  • Computing jobs are projected to grow about twice as fast as the job market overall through 2035.
  • The jobs these majors lead to pay well above the national median, and several rank among the fastest-growing in the country.
  • Computing employment has grown about 60% since 2010.
  • The entry-level market is tougher right now for all new graduates. Internships, projects, and early career planning matter more than ever.

Where These Numbers Come From

Every figure on this page comes from a U.S. government agency or a Federal Reserve Bank. Values were checked against the published tables on September 18, 2026.

Limitations of the data

Projections are expert forecasts, not guarantees. The government counts occupations, not majors, so the major-to-job matches on this page are our own analysis. The unemployment data used here don't track newer majors like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, or quantum computing separately from computer and information sciences as a whole.