Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
Are intern salaries higher now than they were five years ago? In terms of both nominal and real dollars, the answer is yes.
Wages for bachelor’s degree-level interns have been on the rise since 2013. The nominal increase in hourly wages for interns over the past five years is 15.5 percent (from $16.21 per hour to $18.73). However, when wages are adjusted for inflation to 2018 levels, the real increase is 7.8 percent (from $17.38 per hour to $18.73). (See Figure 1.)
For 2018, the fields of study that have the highest average hourly rate for bachelor’s-level interns are computer science, engineering, math/statistics, and health science/nursing. The fields with the lowest rates were human resources, communications, and marketing.
For information about 2018 intern wages, see the NACE 2018 Guide to Compensation for Interns and Co-ops, which will be released later this spring. For insight into setting intern salaries, see “Key Factors to Consider When Setting Intern Salaries.”
Mean hourly wage rate for bachelor’s level interns: 2013 – 2018*
*Inflation adjustments were made using the CPI Inflation Calculator on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website. March 2018 was used for the calculations in this story.