Why the gaps are so wide
Entry-level pay tracks the economics of the industry far more than the difficulty of the work.
Sectors with high revenue per employee — software, investment banking, pharmaceuticals, energy — can pay graduates well because each employee is attached to a large amount of value. Sectors with thin margins and labour costs bounded by hours worked cannot, regardless of how skilled or committed their staff are.
Competition for a specific talent pool is the second factor. Where several high-margin industries chase the same small group of quantitative graduates, starting salaries rise sharply. Where supply is plentiful, they do not.
The highest-paying entry points
Investment banking, private equity and quantitative trading offer the highest graduate packages in most markets, with bonuses that form a substantial part of first-year earnings. Management consulting sits close behind.
Technology follows, with large technology companies paying well above the graduate median and adding equity and signing bonuses. Machine learning, infrastructure and security roles command premiums even at entry level.
Engineering — particularly petroleum, chemical, electrical and semiconductor — and specialist healthcare roles complete the upper group, though healthcare's high entry salaries usually follow substantial postgraduate training.
The solid middle
A large group of industries pay respectably at entry without reaching the top tier, and they frequently offer better hours and progression per unit of stress.
Accountancy and audit start moderately but progress predictably, with qualification driving significant increases in the first few years. Insurance and actuarial work start solidly with excellent progression and unusually good hours. Manufacturing, logistics, utilities and telecoms all pay reasonably for technical graduates.
Corporate roles in marketing, HR and operations vary widely — the same job title pays very differently depending on whether the employer is a high-margin technology company or a low-margin retailer.
The lower end
Some sectors consistently pay below the graduate median at entry, and the reasons are structural rather than a judgement about the work.
Charities and the non-profit sector, the arts and creative industries, journalism and media, hospitality, retail and much of the care sector all sit here. Margins are thin or funding is capped, and in several cases a surplus of enthusiastic applicants means employers do not need to compete on pay.
Public sector entry salaries are usually below private equivalents but come with pensions, security and leave that partially close the gap over a career — a comparison that starting salary alone completely misses.
Location matters as much as sector
Entry-level salaries vary substantially by city, and the variation frequently exceeds the difference between industries.
Major financial and technology centres pay considerably more for the same graduate role — and cost considerably more to live in, often by a larger multiple. A graduate salary in an expensive capital can leave less disposable income than a lower figure in a mid-sized city.
Calculate what remains after rent before comparing offers in different cities. Early career is exactly when housing consumes the largest share of income, so the adjustment matters most at precisely this stage.
Why the first number matters less than it feels
Starting salary is the most visible figure in a career and among the least predictive of where you end up.
What matters more is the growth rate, how transferable the skills are, and whether the role places you near work that will still be valuable in a decade. A slightly lower starting salary in a field with steep progression routinely overtakes a higher start in a narrow function within a few years.
The qualifications and experience you accumulate in the first three years shape the next fifteen. Optimising purely for the opening figure is the most common and most understandable mistake graduates make.