Linguistics Major — Salary & ROI 2026
Scientific study of language, its structure, and its role in human communication.
Starting Salary
$50K
median
Mid-Career
$72K
salary
ROI Payback
5.5 yrs
avg payback
Unemployment
4%
rate
Linguistics Overview
Scientific study of language, its structure, and its role in human communication.
Category
Humanities
Degree Level
Bachelor's
Graduation Rate
64%
Enrollment Trend
stable
Online Available
Yes
Underemployment
28%
Lifetime Premium
$380K
Female Graduates
58%
Linguistics Degree ROI Calculator
Estimate your actual return on investment based on school type and scholarships.
0 to $40K/year in aid
Est. Total Cost
$17,100
4-year tuition
Net Cost (w/ aid)
$17,100
after scholarships
ROI Payback
1 years
to break even
Lifetime Return
$362,900
Lifetime earnings premium ($380,000) minus net degree cost ($17,100)
Linguistics Salary Progression
Common Linguistics Careers
Computational Linguist
NLP Engineer
Translator
Speech Scientist
Top Employers
Skills You'll Learn
Top Schools for Linguistics
#1
MIT
#2
Stanford
#3
UCLA
#4
University of Chicago
#5
University of Pennsylvania
Related Majors
Linguistics Degree FAQ
Data Sources: Salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Enrollment and graduation data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES/IPEDS). Tuition estimates based on College Board Annual Survey of Colleges. Last updated March 2026.
Linguistics Programs by City
Tuition, salary outcomes, and cost of living for linguistics programs vary by city. See your local numbers:
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