Housing

Types of Degrees Housing Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many housing graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	44
Doctor’s Degree	10

What Housing Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to housing and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Housing Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in housing should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Housing Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to housing:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Abilities for Housing Majors

Housing majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Housing Major?

People with a housing degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
Interior Designers	4.5%	$53,370
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	10.9%	$49,370

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Housing?

The major attracts more women than men. About 57% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of housing majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	4
Black or African American	6
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	26
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	4

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Housing, too. About 6.8% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• India
• Saudi Arabia
• Bangladesh

How Much Do Housing Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The median starting salary of students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in housing was $79,004 per year. These stats come from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $79,004 (25th percentile) and $79,004 (75th percentile).

We don’t know for sure if all of these people took jobs related to housing so take that into consideration.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $52,700 to $59,120 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to housing. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Housing

Some degrees associated with housing may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for housing careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	2.2%
Some College Courses	12.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	47.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	2.7%
Master’s Degree	23.1%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	2.7%
Doctoral Degree	2.7%

Online Housing Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 38 schools offered some type of housing program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	0
Bachelor’s Degree	4	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	6	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Housing Worth It?

The median salary for a housing grad is $53,730 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 35% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $276,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Housing

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to housing.

Major	Number of Grads
Human Development & Family Studies	1,589
Food, Nutrition & Related Services	1,214
General Family & Consumer Sciences	368
Family & Consumer Economics	251
Textile & Apparel Studies	150
Human Sciences Business Services	58
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences (Other)	8

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Orygun under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.