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Housing Major

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Housing

44 Master's Degrees Annually
10 Doctor's Degrees Annually
#271 in Popularity (Master's)
$53,730 Median Salary

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

In an O*NET survey, housing majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the 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:

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  • 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:

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  • 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

A major in housing will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

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  • 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?

44 Master's Degrees Annually
57% Percent Women
34% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
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:

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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

Housing appeals to people across the globe. 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
  • Iran

How Much Do Housing Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

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

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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

Housing majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $52,700 to $59,120 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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.

Median Salary for a Housing Major  ( 52700 to 59120 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with housing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to housing have obtained the following education levels.

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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!

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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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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