HR Salaries: How Much Can You Make with a Human Resources Degree? (2024)

The human resources function is not only important, it’s crucial to helping organizations grow, thrive and stay competitive. That’s because HR professionals have a serious responsibility to attract and retain top-performing employees.

So, is a career in human resources (HR) a good career? Is HR still a “people” profession? Do HR professionals make a lot of money?

The short answer to all those questions: Yes, yes, and it depends.

• Yes, HR is a good career for the right person.
• Yes, HR is still a profession that’s all about people.
• It depends, because your salary is based not only on your degree, but also on your role, your organization and, most of all, your qualifications.

Keep reading to find out how much you can make with an HR degree and, more importantly, what you can do to increase your earnings potential.

Can You Make a Six-Figure Income with an HR Degree?

Human resources professionals average a good salary of more than $100,000 a year, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). According to the BLS Occupational Handbook, an HR Manager with a B.S. Human Resources degree can expect a median annual salary of $126,230.

Even better? The job outlook from 2021 to 2031 for HR managers is expected to be faster than average for all jobs–7% compared to just 3%.

Do I Need a Degree to Work in HR?

At the risk of sounding repetitive, the answer to whether you need a degree to work in HR is: It depends.

While not all human resources careers require a degree, many employers consider a bachelor’s degree to be the minimum qualification due to the professional nature of the work. This is especially true for roles that involve employee relations, union negotiations or compensation and benefits.

So, if you’re looking for a career in HR that goes beyond an entry-level position, earning a bachelor’s in human resources is key. Not only can a degree in human resources increase your job prospects, it can increase your take-home pay, too.

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Human Resources Salaries: How Much Can You Earn with an HR Degree?

Like most fields, HR salaries vary a lot. Your experience, skills and qualifications all play a part in what you can expect to make as a human resources professional. But another big and important factor is the type of human resources degree you have.

Typically, the higher your level of education, the more competitive you’ll be for all types of jobs–especially top-paying positions in human resources leadership.

Human Resources: Average Annual Salary Based on Degree Type

To give you a good idea of salaries for those with an HR degree, it can help to look at the numbers. Here are the national average salaries by degree level, as reported by the labor market analytics firm, Lightcast.

Human Resources Assistant

• Degree Typically Required: Associate
• Average Annual Salary: $49,926

Human Resources Specialist

• Degree Typically Required: Bachelor's
• Average Annual Salary: $64,230

Human Resources Manager

• Degree Typically Required: Bachelor's or Master's
• Average Annual Salary: $130,000

4 Good Reasons to Earn a Bachelor’s Degree in HR

1. Improve Your Skills

Learning on the job is a good thing, of course. There’s no substitute, however, for learning best-practice theories and emerging concepts from working professionals–especially when you apply what you learn, as you learn it, to solve real-world challenges.

According to aggregated data of job posting analytics from Lightcast, employers are looking to hire human resources professionals who have specialized skills including these:

Necessary Skills

• Project Management
• Labor Law
• Auditing
• Employee Engagement
• Change Management
• Business Strategies
• Process Improvement
• Employee Onboarding
• Regulatory Compliance
• Marketing

Defining Skills

• Employee Relations
• Talent Acquisition
• Performance Management
• Human Resources Information System (HRIS)
• Human Resources Management
• Professional in Human Resources
• Talent Management
• Senior Professional in Human Resources
• Recruitment Strategies
• Succession Planning

Distinguishing Skills

• Workforce Planning
• Full-Cycle Recruitment
• SHRM-SCP (Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional)
• Benefits Administration
• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
• Human Capital
• Organizational Architecture

Bottom line: Going back to college for your bachelor’s in human resources lets you add industry- and job-specific capabilities to your skill set.

2. Start a New Career

If you’re looking to pivot your career, you’re not alone. Plenty of people like you have started a new career (or two!) with great success. And because HR touches all disciplines of business, it’s a great place to start a new chapter in your career. If you haven’t worked in HR before, you’re going to have to prove yourself without any experience. How? With a degree in HR that shows you have the foundational knowledge for an entry-level career in a growing and ever-changing field.

Bottom line: Earning an HR bachelor’s degree can prepare you for an exciting new career.

3. Make Yourself More Promotable

If you’re already working in human resources and love it, perhaps it’s time to think about moving into a more challenging role with a bigger salary. Earning a degree in HR is a smart way to demonstrate to your employer that you’re ready and capable of doing more (not to mention it shows that you’re willing and able to continually learn, grow, and change).

Bottom line: Employers could be more likely to promote you to a higher-level position because you took the initiative to earn your bachelor’s in human resources.

4. Boost Your Earnings Potential

Everyone wants to get paid what they’re worth. And statistics show that the more education you have, the higher your income potential. Earning a bachelor’s degree in HR can help you increase your earning potential as you start, transition or advance your career.

Bottom line: Earning a bachelor’s degree in HR can help you earn more now–and later.

4 Good Reasons to Earn a Master’s Degree in HR

1. Level-Up Your Skills

Few people don’t want to be lifelong learners. So, when you’re ready to take the next step in your career, where better to start than by learning something new? An M.S. in Human Resource Management can help you advance your leadership capabilities within the field, as well as learn how to create an organizational culture that recognizes, rewards and appreciates a diverse workforce.

Bottom line: Earning a master’s in HR can help you add in-demand skills to your resume.

2. Move Into a Higher Leadership Role

Looking to advance into a managerial and executive position? Great. All you need is to prepare yourself to become a strategic partner to the C-suite. An HR master’s is one way you can acquire the knowledge and skills needed to become a best-practice professional.

Bottom line: Develop your leadership capabilities with an HR master’s degree.

3. Become Sought-After

If you’re looking to advance your organization’s mission–and your career–it’s important to become a more competitive candidate for a top leadership role. A master’s degree in human resources can help you develop the leadership, communication and planning skills that employers want and need.

Bottom line: Employers are desperate for well-qualified HR professionals with advanced leadership and communication skills.

4. Gain Specialized Expertise

It’s not easy to expand your skills in niche areas like competitive employee benefit plans, changing labor laws, and effective talent management strategies without an advanced degree. With the right degree program, a master’s in HR can help you develop and sharpen your skills to make an impact on your organization.

Bottom line: A master’s in HR lets you develop the expertise you need to lead in key areas of human resources.

4 Tips to Boost Your HR Career and Salary

Earning an HR degree is just one way to increase your salary and advance your career in human resources. Here are four more things you can do to increase your earnings potential in both the short- and long-term.

1. Switch Employers or Industries

Every industry and every sector needs well-qualified human resources professionals. That’s good news for you, especially if you want options for your career. With an HR degree, you can work for private or public companies, small businesses or enterprises, nonprofits or government agencies.

Which is why, when it comes to HR salaries, your employer and your industry both matter. For example, if you work in an in-demand industry like technology, salaries are generally higher, which means your earnings also may be higher.

Here’s a comparative look at the salary differences of human resources officers and managers at various organizations.

2. Move to a Bigger Company

The size of your organization also can have an impact on your salary. While not universally true, you can expect that a large corporation will offer more in the way of salaries, specializations and advancement opportunities. Since many small businesses or organizations have smaller operating budgets and need fewer HR employees than larger companies, they may not pay as much or have as many advancement opportunities. So, if salary really matters to you, consider exploring careers within bigger companies and larger organizations.

3. Relocate

When it comes to HR salaries, where you choose to live and work is a key factor. While more expensive cities, like New York and San Francisco, may offer a higher base pay, expenses also may be higher than in a smaller city or another area of the country. If you’re thinking of relocating for a top-paying HR job, good for you–just be sure to consider salary in light of the cost of living in your new city.

4. Specialize

One of the great things about the field of HR is the opportunity to work in a variety of areas and hold a wide range of job titles. You can be an HR generalist, which simply means that you perform all the duties within the HR job function. Or, you can boost your expertise, opportunities and salary even more by specializing in an area of human resources, such as employee relations, recruiting, training or performance management.

Is a Degree in HR Worth It?

Some people think they have to get an HR degree, not because they want to but because everyone else has one. If that’s your only reason for thinking about earning a B.S. or M.S. in Human Resources, think again.

But if you want to take your current career to the next level, become a more influential human resources leader, or perhaps even bring home a bigger salary, earning your degree in HR is a great way to get there.