TL;DR

Technical Support maps to BLS occupations averaging about $92,791, with roughly 219,070 workers nationwide in those roles. Common paths include Computer User Support Specialists and Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products.

Key Statistics

$92,791
Avg. Wage (related occupations)
219,070
Workers (related occupations)

Technical Support: what the data shows

Common questions about technical support degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a technical support degree?

A Technical Support program is classified under NCES CIP in the Health Professions and Related Programs field family (00.00).

What do you learn in technical support?

O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension, Active Learning, Monitoring, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.

What degree do you need?

For Computer User Support Specialists (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a technical support degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Technical Support to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

OccupationU.S. employmentMedian annual wage
Computer User Support Specialists146,450$73,340
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products293,930$100,070
Technical Writers55,530$91,670
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School104,450$63,910
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other195,890$46,040
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products1,266,860$66,780

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Technical Support and the types of students that study this field.

Degrees Awarded Over Time

N/A Total Degrees Awarded in 2023

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Technical Support from 2015 to 2023.

Historical trend of degrees awarded in Technical Support.

Graduation Rates

Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.

Graduation/completion rates for Technical Support programs across institutions.

Careers & Jobs

Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.

Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $92,791. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Technical Support graduates alone.

Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.

Employment

Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

$90,614 Average Wage in Workforce

The average salary for Technical Support majors is $90,614.

Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Technical Support majors.

Occupations by Share

219,070 2023 Workforce

The number of Technical Support graduates in the workforce has been growing.

Various jobs filled by those with a major in Technical Support by share of the total number of graduates.

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Technical Support in the United States.

Workforce Age

N/A Average Age in 2023

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Technical Support.

Age distribution for Technical Support degree holders in the workforce.

Gender Distribution

Gender distribution data is not available for this degree program.

Gender distribution of Technical Support degree recipients.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution

Race and ethnicity distribution data is not available for this degree program.

Racial and ethnic distribution of Technical Support degree recipients.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Technical Support are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.

Distribution of degree types awarded in Technical Support.

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Technical Support field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Required Skills

Technical Support majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.

Rating of how necessary various skills are for Technical Support majors.

Skills Bar Chart

This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.

Skill importance ratings for Technical Support majors.

About

Technical Support

In 2023, N/A degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Technical Support.

CIP Code

- Technical Support

What the data shows

Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $92,791. The largest mapped role by headcount is Computer User Support Specialists (146,450 U.S. jobs in OEWS).

Data Sources

This page uses data from the following sources:

  • College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
    • Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
    • Data years: 2015-2024
    • Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
    • Employment and wage data by occupation
    • Latest data: May 2024
    • Source: bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
    • Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
    • Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
    • Source: onetcenter.org
  • IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
    • Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
    • Data years: 2015-2024
    • Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
  • Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
    • Demographic and workforce data
    • Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
    • Source: census.gov/acs

Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.

Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.

Methodology

Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.

All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.