Why people earn what they do, why jobs appear and vanish, how labor markets actually behave — that's your field, taught and researched. The economics of work itself.
The role splits across teaching, research, and service — lecturing on labor markets, running empirical studies, and publishing findings. You work heavily with data and theory, and labor economics lives or dies on the quality of the data. Much of the craft is drawing credible conclusions from messy real-world numbers.
Institution type shapes the load. A research university prizes publishing and grants; a teaching college centers courses. Tenure pressure can be intense, results take years, and the policy relevance of your work invites real scrutiny. For many, the tension is rigorous research against the slow grind of academia.
It tends to suit the analytical and intellectually driven — people who love both data and ideas about work, and can teach them well. If you want fast results or industry pay, academic economics may frustrate. But if understanding the forces that shape people's working lives genuinely grips you, the field is rich and influential.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Why people earn what they do, why jobs appear and vanish, how labor markets actually behave — that's your field, taught and researched. The economics of work itself.
Median pay for a Labor Economics Professor is about $120K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $58K to $217K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Speaking, Instructing, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and Writing.
Most people in this role hold a professional degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 2.1% through 2034, with roughly 12,420 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Finance Professor, Marketing Professor, and Accounting Professor.
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