{"h1":"Industries where the most jobs need a four-year degree","faq":[{"a":"Aerospace & Defense leads: 94% of its jobs are in occupations that typically need a four-year degree, against 86% across all industries.","q":"Which industry ranks first: industries where the most jobs need a four-year degree?"},{"a":"16 industries have at least 1,000 jobs matched to an occupation, so the list has 16 entries.","q":"How many industries are ranked?"},{"a":"A industry's score is the share of its open professional roles, among those we could match to an occupation, whose occupation typically needs a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics). A posting does not state a degree. Each is matched to its standard occupation, and the education shown is what the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists as typical for entering that occupation. Some employers ask for more or less, and about one posting in a hundred has an occupation we could not match, which is left out. The industry is the one our crawler assigns to the employer. Only industries with at least 1,000 matched jobs are ranked. Our board is professional roles, so every share is high compared with the whole economy.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Aerospace & Defense leads: 94% of its jobs are in occupations that typically need a four-year degree, against 86% across all industries.","minN":1000,"rows":[{"n":15135,"bar":1,"key":"industry:aerospace_defense","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/aerospace-and-defense","name":"Aerospace & Defense","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"14,201"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"934"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"15,135"}],"value":0.9382887347208457,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"94%"},{"n":8475,"bar":0.9647890931275562,"key":"industry:life_sciences","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/pharmaceuticals-and-biotech","name":"Pharmaceuticals & Biotech","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"7,672"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"803"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"8,475"}],"value":0.9052507374631269,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"91%"},{"n":7116,"bar":0.9639257763122161,"key":"industry:energy","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/energy-and-utilities","name":"Energy & Utilities","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"6,436"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"680"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"7,116"}],"value":0.9044406970207982,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"90%"},{"n":56491,"bar":0.9502523264902776,"key":"industry:technology","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/technology-and-software","name":"Technology & Software","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"50,368"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"6,123"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"56,491"}],"value":0.8916110530881025,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"89%"},{"n":33026,"bar":0.9474335949100592,"key":"industry:industrial","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/manufacturing-and-industrial","name":"Manufacturing & Industrial","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"29,359"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"3,667"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"33,026"}],"value":0.8889662690001817,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"89%"},{"n":4490,"bar":0.9297597223696878,"key":"industry:nonprofit","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/nonprofit-and-social-impact","name":"Nonprofit & Social Impact","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"3,917"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"573"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"4,490"}],"value":0.8723830734966592,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"87%"},{"n":21083,"bar":0.9200310342345953,"key":"industry:healthcare","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/healthcare-and-hospital-systems","name":"Healthcare & Hospital Systems","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"18,200"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"2,883"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"21,083"}],"value":0.8632547550158896,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"86%"},{"n":21518,"bar":0.9013329656443713,"key":"industry:financial_services","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/financial-services-and-banking","name":"Financial Services & Banking","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"18,198"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"3,320"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"21,518"}],"value":0.8457105678966447,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"85%"},{"n":8720,"bar":0.8935601592212462,"key":"industry:education","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/education-and-edtech","name":"Education & EdTech","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"7,311"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"1,409"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"8,720"}],"value":0.8384174311926605,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"84%"},{"n":12468,"bar":0.8885690823193666,"key":"industry:professional_services","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/professional-services-and-consulting","name":"Professional Services & Consulting","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"10,395"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"2,073"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"12,468"}],"value":0.8337343599615015,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"83%"},{"n":5211,"bar":0.8620649814366378,"key":"industry:media","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/media-and-entertainment","name":"Media & Entertainment","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"4,215"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"996"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"5,211"}],"value":0.8088658606793322,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"81%"},{"n":6206,"bar":0.8423464275606813,"key":"industry:government","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/government-and-public-sector","name":"Government & Public Sector","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"4,905"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"1,301"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"6,206"}],"value":0.7903641637125363,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"79%"},{"n":1670,"bar":0.8347468150804932,"key":"industry:agriculture","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/agriculture-and-food-production","name":"Agriculture & Food Production","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"1,308"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"362"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"1,670"}],"value":0.7832335329341318,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"78%"},{"n":4767,"bar":0.8030723512012136,"key":"industry:logistics","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/transportation-and-logistics","name":"Transportation & Logistics","rank":14,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"3,592"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"1,175"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"4,767"}],"value":0.7535137402978813,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"75%"},{"n":3645,"bar":0.7903364482243904,"key":"industry:real_estate","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/construction-and-real-estate","name":"Construction & Real Estate","rank":15,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"2,703"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"942"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"3,645"}],"value":0.7415637860082305,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"74%"},{"n":14718,"bar":0.7843742910338043,"key":"industry:consumer","sub":"Industry","href":"/industries/retail-and-e-commerce","name":"Retail & E-commerce","rank":16,"stats":[{"label":"Jobs that need a four-year degree","value":"10,832"},{"label":"Jobs that do not","value":"3,886"},{"label":"Jobs matched to an occupation","value":"14,718"}],"value":0.7359695610816687,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"74%"}],"slug":"industries-where-the-most-jobs-need-a-four-year-degree","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Industries where the most jobs need a four-year degree","family":"Degrees","method":["A industry's score is the share of its open professional roles, among those we could match to an occupation, whose occupation typically needs a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics).","A posting does not state a degree. Each is matched to its standard occupation, and the education shown is what the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists as typical for entering that occupation. Some employers ask for more or less, and about one posting in a hundred has an occupation we could not match, which is left out. The industry is the one our crawler assigns to the employer. Only industries with at least 1,000 matched jobs are ranked. Our board is professional roles, so every share is high compared with the whole economy."],"builtAt":"2026-11-03T15:06:31.259Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"dg_share","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles, matched to standard occupation (SOC) codes","Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025-35: typical entry-level education and projected employment change by occupation"],"baseline":{"label":"all industries","valueLabel":"86%"},"keyFacts":["#1 Aerospace & Defense, Industry: 94%","#2 Pharmaceuticals & Biotech, Industry: 91%","#3 Energy & Utilities, Industry: 90%","16 industries ranked across all industries","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"industries","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Aerospace & Defense leads on 94%, and #10 Professional Services & Consulting is at 83%.","Nonprofit & Social Impact reaches #6 on a sample of 4,490 jobs matched to an occupation, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.","Technology & Software is the largest market in the top ten, with 56,491 jobs matched to an occupation behind its figure.","Industries with fewer than 1,000 jobs matched to an occupation are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/industries-where-the-most-jobs-need-a-four-year-degree"}