NACE Starting Salary Data for 2024-25: A Breakdown + Advisor Guide

If you’re a career advisor discussing salary expectations with students, NACE starting salary data for the class of 2024-25 can provide a useful benchmark.

The harder part is helping students understand what those numbers actually mean for the roles, industries, locations, and offers they are considering.

NACE’s salary data provides both actual starting-salary outcomes and forward-looking projections, with substantial differences across majors and fields.

But those figures become much more useful when advisors can distinguish an overall average from a relevant benchmark and put salary alongside geography, cost of living, benefits, and the student’s target role.

This guide breaks down NACE starting salary data for the Classes of 2024 and 2025, then shows career advisors how to use those insights to set realistic salary expectations, compare offers, discuss total compensation, support negotiation, and strengthen employer conversations.

What Does NACE Starting Salary Data Show for the Classes of 2024 & 2025?

Before comparing the numbers, there is an important distinction: NACE’s Summer Salary Survey reports actual starting salaries for the previous graduating class, while its Winter Salary Survey reports employer salary projections for the current graduating class.

That means the Class of 2024 figures below represent salaries graduates actually reported, while the Class of 2025 figures represent what employers projected they would pay new graduates.

Class of 2024: Actual Starting Salary Data

According to the NACE Summer 2025 Salary Survey, the final overall average salary for the Class of 2024 sits at $65,677.

That was a 2.2% increase over the Class of 2023 average of $64,291. NACE describes these figures as actual starting salaries rather than projections, based on First-Destination Survey data reported by colleges and universities.

The figures represent base salary and do not include bonuses, commissions, fringe benefits, or overtime.

The data also shows substantial differences across fields:

• Computer and information sciences: $88,907
• Engineering: $80,482
• Math and statistics: $78,543
• Business: $68,644
• Healthcare professions: $63,608

Computer and information sciences remained the highest-paid major category among those highlighted by NACE, while business recorded the largest year-over-year increase among the five top-paid categories.

Class of 2025: Projected Starting Salary Data

The Class of 2025 numbers answer a different question.

NACE’s Winter 2025 Salary Survey reports employer salary projections for Class of 2025 graduates rather than final salaries earned by graduates. The projections were mixed across fields, with some groups expected to see increases and others decreases.

For bachelor’s degree graduates, projected average starting salaries included:

• Engineering: $78,731
• Computer sciences: $76,251
• Math and sciences: $69,709
• Business: $65,276

These figures also represent base salaries only and exclude bonuses, commissions, fringe benefits, and overtime.

For career advisors, the key takeaway is that NACE salary data is a benchmark, not a prediction of what an individual student should earn.

An overall average such as $65,677 provides useful context, but advisors should narrow that benchmark by major or field, target role, industry, geography, employer, and the specific offer before using it in a student conversation.

Also Read: 4-Week Job Search Plan for Students: Career Advisor Playbook

Which Salary Data Should Career Advisors Use With Students?

Look beyond the national median. The most useful data points are the 25th to 75th percentile ranges, localized First-Destination Survey (FDS) data, and total compensation metrics including signing bonuses, relocation assistance, and healthcare premiums. These provide a realistic, localized baseline instead of a single, misleading number.

A single national average rarely gives a student enough context to evaluate an individual offer.

Instead, you need to utilize and present:

• The Middle 50%: Show students the 25th and 75th percentiles. This sets a clear floor and ceiling, illustrating the difference between an average entry-level offer and a highly competitive one.
• Total Compensation Benchmarks: Base salary is just one piece of the puzzle. Track and share your institutional data on average signing bonuses and relocation stipends.
• Localized FDS Data: NACE data is fantastic for national trends, but your own institutional First-Destination Survey tells a student what a graduate from your specific college actually makes in your local market.

How Should Advisors Put Starting Salary Data in Context?

You help students interpret salaries by framing them around the true cost of living and net take-home pay. A higher nominal salary in a high-cost market may leave a student with less discretionary income than a lower salary in a more affordable location. Salary should therefore be evaluated alongside housing, transportation, taxes, debt obligations, and other major expenses.

Walk your students through tools like the MIT Living Wage Calculator to show how rent, utilities, and groceries affect the value of a salary in different locations.

Furthermore, remind them about taxes and debt.

Teach students to distinguish between gross annual salary and the amount they will actually have available after taxes, benefits deductions, loan payments, and essential living costs.

This makes the conversation less about whether a salary looks impressive in isolation and more about what that salary means for the student’s actual financial situation.

Also Read: How Career Centers Can Support Seniors Without Jobs Before Graduation

How Should Advisors Compare NACE Salary Data Across Majors, Roles, and Locations?

Not all degrees pay equally, and NACE’s Class of 2024 data shows why one overall graduate salary should not become the benchmark for every student.

According to the NACE Summer 2025 Salary Survey, the top-paid category remains computer and information sciences with an average of $88,907.

Engineering follows at $80,482. On the flip side, business majors land at $68,644, and healthcare professions average $63,608.  

However, industry alone isn't the whole story. A computer science grad taking an IT role at a local non-profit in the Midwest will not see the same compensation as one joining a tech giant in Silicon Valley.

Role, employer, industry, geography, degree level, and prior experience can all affect the relevant salary comparison.

Instead of telling a student what someone with their major earns, advisors can ask:

• What specific roles are you targeting?
• Which industries employ people in those roles?
• Where are those jobs located?
• What salary range appears consistently across comparable positions?
• How does your institution’s FDS data compare with national benchmarks?
• What does the complete compensation package include?

That moves the conversation from “What does my major pay?” to “What is a reasonable compensation range for this particular opportunity?”

Also Read: How to Prevent Liberal Arts Underemployment in the First Post-Grad Job?

How Should Career Advisors Structure Salary Conversations With Students?

Career advisors can make salary conversations more consistent by moving students through the same five questions before deciding whether an offer is competitive.

1. Establish the relevant benchmark

Start with national sources such as NACE, then add institutional First-Destination Survey data and reliable role-specific salary information.

The goal is not to find one definitive number. It is to establish a reasonable market range.

2. Narrow the comparison

Move from broad graduate or major-level data toward the student’s actual situation.

Consider:

• target role
• industry
• geography
• employer type
• degree level
• relevant experience

The narrower the comparison becomes, the more useful the salary benchmark becomes.

3. Separate base salary from total compensation

NACE salary figures represent base salary rather than total compensation.

When reviewing an actual offer, students should also consider:

• signing bonuses
• relocation support
• health insurance
• retirement contributions
• paid time off
• tuition reimbursement
• hybrid or remote flexibility
• professional development
• performance review timelines

4. Compare the offer with the student's priorities

Compensation is one part of the decision.

Students may also need to weigh career growth, responsibilities, manager quality, location, stability, work environment, benefits, and how well the role positions them for their next career step.

5. Decide whether negotiation is warranted

If the offer sits below relevant benchmarks or the student has evidence that supports a stronger case, negotiation may be appropriate.

The discussion should be grounded in market evidence, the role, and the student’s qualifications rather than an arbitrary salary target.

How Should Career Advisors Use Salary Data During Offer and Negotiation Conversations?

Shift the conversation from base pay to total rewards. Teach students to evaluate healthcare costs, 401(k) matches, paid time off, and tuition reimbursement. Additionally, remind them that salary negotiation is about building a business case based on market data, not simply demanding more money to cover expenses.

Students may enter negotiation conversations focused on what they personally need to earn rather than what the role, market, and their qualifications support.

According to the University of Texas at Dallas Career Center, students must be taught to define their target salary based entirely on market data and their skillset, not their personal budget.

Coach students to prepare "accomplishment statements" that justify their value.

When discussing an offer, especially if the base pay is rigidly fixed, as is common with many corporate entry-level cohorts - pivot the conversation to total rewards.

Can they negotiate an earlier performance review? A hybrid work schedule? A modest signing bonus?

Empower your students to understand their "walk-away" point while keeping the tone positive and collaborative rather than confrontational.

NACE salary data can provide useful evidence in these conversations, but advisors should remind students that the published figures represent base salary rather than the full value of an employment offer.

How Can Career Centers Use NACE & FDS Salary Data With Employers?

Use your institutional data to actively advocate for your graduates. Salary data isn't just for advising students; it is your strongest weapon in employer relations.

If an employer is seeing low applicant interest in a role, compensation can be one factor worth examining.

Career teams can compare the offer with relevant role, location, institutional, and national benchmarks to determine whether compensation may be contributing to low student interest.

Use this compensation data to consult with employers, advising them on how to structure competitive packages for your specific student demographic.

For example, an employer offering below the salary ranges your graduates typically report may benefit from seeing:

• relevant institutional FDS salary data
• NACE benchmarks for comparable fields
• geographic salary differences
• student feedback about compensation expectations
• benefits or total-rewards components that could make the offer more competitive

This changes the salary conversation from “students think this offer is too low” to a discussion grounded in evidence about the market and your graduate population.

Doing so can position the career center as a more informed partner in early-talent recruiting while helping employers understand how their opportunities compare with the alternatives students are considering.

Wrapping Up

NACE starting salary data gives career advisors a credible national benchmark, but the number itself is only the beginning.

Effective salary advising means helping students understand which benchmark applies to them, whether the data represents actual salaries or projections, how role and geography change the comparison, and how total compensation affects the value of an individual offer.

Better salary advising helps students make clearer decisions, evaluate offers realistically, and understand what a strong first step can look like after graduation.

For career centers, that requires more than sharing national averages. It requires scalable systems that help students connect career goals, resume strength, interview readiness, compensation expectations, and employer conversations.

Hiration supports that full journey through Career Assessments, AI-powered Resume Optimization, Interview Simulation, and other career readiness tools, along with a Counselor Module to manage cohorts, workflows, and analytics in one secure, FERPA and SOC 2-compliant platform.

When students understand the numbers and the context behind them, they can make career decisions with more confidence and less guesswork.