Academic salaries: what academic jobs advertise
Academic postings that state pay run $74,000 to $145,000 for the middle half, median $103,000, from 228 paid postings from 179 employers.
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By Justin KullaLast updated
Academic pay range
From 228 paid postings from 179 employers. Annual, in US dollars.
- Lower quarter
- $74,000
- Median
- $103,000
- Upper quarter
- $145,000
The median for all professional postings is $140,000, so Academic is below it.
Academic pay by level
Levels with at least 30 paid postings from 8 employers.
| Group | Median | Middle half | Gap | Postings | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | $110,000 | $80,000 to $138,500 | n/a | 70 | 58 |
| Director | $100,000 | $65,000 to $140,500 | n/a | 81 | 68 |
Compare with other functions
The groups ranked just above and below by median.
Questions about this data
- How much do Academic jobs pay?
- $74,000 to $145,000 for the middle half, median $103,000, from 228 paid postings from 179 employers that state pay. That is below the $140,000 median for all professional postings. It is advertised pay, not what people are paid.
- How does Academic pay change with level?
- Manager: $110,000; Director: $100,000.
Method, download and how to cite
Data as of November 3, 2026. Rebuilt daily.
Pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posted (or stated in the posting text), converted to a year, on live U.S. professional jobs. It is advertised pay, not what anyone is paid.
A “gap, job mix matched” compares postings inside cells of the same function, level and industry, so a group is not credited for simply holding more senior or better-paid roles. It needs 150 or more postings across at least 5 cells with 15 postings on each side, and is shown as n/a otherwise. A gap is a difference in advertised pay between postings. It does not show that a skill, an industry or an employer size causes higher pay.
Download the CSV (aggregates only; no posting, employer or person is in it). Cite as: NextChapter, “Advertised pay in Academic (function) on U.S. professional job postings”, data as of November 3, 2026, https://launchyournextchapter.com/resources/pay-data/function/academic
See also the AI skills salary premium, which uses the same method for AI skills only, and the salary by job title pages.
More pay data
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