2027 History Degree Hiring Strength by State: Where Employers Need Graduates Most
Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist
History graduates often face a practical question: where are the jobs strongest, and is moving worth it? The answer depends on whether you want museums, archives, teaching, government research, law, policy, or digital humanities work.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects historian employment to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034, but opportunities are concentrated in specific states and industries. This guide helps students, new graduates, and career changers compare demand, salary, growth, cost of living, and skills before choosing a state.
Key Things You Should Know
- The strongest history hiring markets are not always the largest states; Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland stand out because federal agencies, contractors, archives, museums, and policy organizations create unusually dense demand.
- Salary should be judged against cost of living: BLS May 2024 data places the national median annual wage for historians at $75,770, but high-paying states often also have above-average housing and commuting costs.
- Fast growth does not automatically mean easy hiring; a smaller state with expanding museums, universities, or public history projects may add jobs quickly, while a large state may offer more openings but heavier competition.
- Which States Have the Strongest Demand for History Graduates?
- Which States Offer the Highest Salaries for History Professionals?
Which States Have the Strongest Demand for History Graduates?
For history majors, "hiring strength" means more than the number of job postings with the word historian in the title. It includes demand for archival research, museum interpretation, cultural resource management, education, public policy, legal research, publishing, government documentation, and nonprofit program work.
The strongest states tend to combine several employer types: government agencies, universities, museums, historical societies, law firms, libraries, media organizations, and tourism or heritage sites.
The table below summarizes states that typically provide the broadest history-related labor markets based on BLS occupational patterns, federal employment concentration, higher education density, and public history infrastructure:
| State or district | Hiring strength signal | Common history-related roles | Best fit for |
| Washington, DC | Exceptional concentration of federal, archive, museum, policy, and nonprofit employers | Historian, archivist, researcher, policy analyst, museum educator | Graduates interested in federal history, public policy, records, and national museums |
| Virginia | Strong federal contractor presence plus major historic sites and defense-related research | Public historian, research analyst, curator, cultural resource specialist | Students who want history plus government, military, preservation, or consulting work |
| Maryland | Close to federal agencies, archives, universities, and research institutions | Archivist, historian, records analyst, museum specialist | Graduates targeting archives, federal records, and research support roles |
| New York | Large cultural, publishing, education, media, museum, and nonprofit ecosystem | Museum educator, editor, archivist, researcher, teacher | Graduates seeking a large urban market with many cultural employers |
| California | Large statewide market across universities, museums, public agencies, media, and cultural organizations | Archivist, museum specialist, community historian, content researcher | Graduates who want scale, specialization, and digital or media-adjacent roles |
| Massachusetts | Dense higher education, historical collections, libraries, and research organizations | Archivist, academic researcher, museum program coordinator | Students drawn to universities, libraries, archives, and early American history institutions |
| Pennsylvania | Strong historic preservation, higher education, state history, and heritage tourism base | Historic site interpreter, curator, teacher, preservation assistant | Graduates who want public history with a more moderate cost profile than some coastal hubs |
| Texas | Large and diverse labor market with universities, museums, local government, and fast-growing metro areas | Teacher, museum educator, archivist, local history researcher | Graduates who want a large state market with multiple metro options |
Large states such as California, New York, and Texas can offer more total openings, but they also attract more applicants. Smaller high-concentration markets such as DC, Maryland, and Massachusetts may offer fewer total jobs but stronger alignment for graduates with archives, museums, policy, or research experience.
Which States Offer the Highest Salaries for History Professionals?
History salaries vary widely because graduates enter different roles. A historian in a federal agency, a museum educator at a nonprofit, a high school teacher, a university lecturer, and an archival manager may all use historical training but face different pay scales.
BLS May 2024 data reports a national median annual wage of $75,770 for historians. Use that figure as a benchmark, not a promise. States with stronger public-sector, university, legal, consulting, or federal employment often provide better pay potential, but the value of that pay depends heavily on housing, taxes, commuting, and job stability:
| State or district | Salary outlook for history-related work | Why pay may be stronger | Important caution |
| Washington, DC | High salary potential | Federal agencies, national nonprofits, policy organizations, and national museums | Very high living costs can reduce take-home value |
| Maryland | High salary potential | Federal-adjacent jobs, archives, research institutions, and universities | Best opportunities are concentrated near major metro and federal corridors |
| Virginia | High salary potential | Government contractors, military history, consulting, and public-sector research | Northern Virginia differs sharply from rural and smaller markets |
| California | High salary potential in select metros | Universities, museums, media, public agencies, and digital humanities roles | Salary gains may be offset by housing costs in coastal metros |
| New York | High salary potential in cultural and education hubs | Museums, publishing, universities, archives, and media organizations | Competition is intense, especially for entry-level museum and publishing jobs |
| Massachusetts | Strong salary potential for specialized roles | Higher education, archives, libraries, museums, and research institutions | Many attractive roles require graduate training or prior collection experience |
The key mistake is treating "highest salary state" as the same thing as "best state." A $75,000 role in a lower-cost region may offer more financial room than a higher-paying job in a very expensive metro. Graduates should compare salary, rent, commute, benefits, union coverage, pension eligibility, and advancement path before relocating.
Job growth for history graduates comes from several channels: public-sector hiring, museum expansions, university demand, records digitization, historic preservation, legal discovery, local government archives, and cultural tourism. The BLS projects historian employment to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034, which suggests steady rather than explosive national growth.
Because state-level history job growth can be uneven, the most useful approach is to look for states where population growth, university systems, public-sector investment, and cultural institutions are all expanding. These conditions can create better early-career openings even when the formal historian occupation remains small:
| State | Growth signal | Where history graduates may find momentum | Who should consider it |
| Texas | Large population growth and expanding metro-area institutions | Education, museums, local government, archives, cultural nonprofits | Graduates who want several city options rather than one dominant market |
| Florida | Growth in population, tourism, local history, and public education needs | Museums, historic sites, K-12 education, local archives | Students interested in public-facing history and community education |
| North Carolina | Expanding universities, research hubs, and metro economies | Higher education support, archives, museums, public history programs | Graduates seeking growth without the highest coastal living costs |
| Georgia | Growing metro economy with media, universities, and cultural institutions | Content research, education, archives, museum programming | Graduates interested in history plus communications or media |
| Colorado | Public history, land use, preservation, and cultural resource activity | Historic preservation, government, museums, outdoor heritage organizations | Graduates interested in environmental history, public lands, or preservation |
| Washington | Technology, public institutions, and digital records needs | Digital archives, education, public agencies, content research | Students who combine historical research with technology skills |
A fast-growing state can be a smart choice for adaptable graduates, but it may not be ideal for someone who needs a narrowly defined historian job immediately. If your goal is a museum curator role, a slower-growing state with dense museums may be better than a fast-growing state with few cultural employers.
Cost of living can change the real value of a history job more than salary alone. The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities with the U.S. average set at 100; states and metro areas above 100 are more expensive than the national average, while those below 100 are generally more affordable.
For history graduates, this matters because many entry-level roles in museums, nonprofits, archives, and education are not as highly paid as technical or finance roles. A state with moderate salaries and lower costs can sometimes provide better career sustainability than a prestigious high-cost market:
| State or district | Hiring appeal | Cost-of-living pattern using BEA 2024 RPP framework | Career value takeaway |
| Washington, DC | Very strong history demand | Above national average | Best for graduates who can access federal, policy, or higher-paying research roles |
| New York | Very strong cultural market | Above national average, especially in New York City | Good for specialized cultural careers, but budgeting is critical |
| California | Large and diverse market | Above national average in major coastal metros | Works best when salary, benefits, or hybrid flexibility offset housing costs |
| Massachusetts | Strong education and archive market | Above national average in the Boston area | Best for graduates targeting universities, libraries, and specialized collections |
| Pennsylvania | Solid public history and education market | Often closer to national average than coastal hubs | Can be attractive for graduates seeking heritage roles with more manageable costs |
| Texas | Large and growing market | Varies widely by metro | Offers multiple city choices, but housing and commuting costs should be checked locally |
| North Carolina | Growing market | Often more moderate than major coastal hubs | Can provide a good balance for early-career graduates building experience |
A practical relocation rule is to compare monthly rent, transportation, health insurance costs, and loan payments before accepting an offer. If a role offers strong mentoring, tuition benefits, union protections, or a clear promotion ladder, it may be worth a higher-cost location for a limited period.
Employers often value history graduates for research, writing, source evaluation, context building, and communication. In competitive states, those strengths need to be paired with practical tools that match the employer's workflow.
The most marketable graduates can show evidence of applied historical work, not just coursework. Build a portfolio around the role you want, especially if you are targeting DC, New York, California, Massachusetts, or other competitive markets:
- Archival and records skills: Metadata, finding aids, digitization, preservation basics, database searching, and records management terminology.
- Data and digital humanities skills: Spreadsheets, GIS, oral history tools, content management systems, basic visualization, and ethical use of AI for transcription or indexing.
- Public communication: Exhibit labels, grant narratives, policy briefs, museum tours, curriculum materials, and accessible writing for nonacademic audiences.
- Legal and compliance research: Document analysis, chronology building, citation discipline, and evidence organization; graduates exploring this path may compare online paralegal programs to add a more job-specific credential.
- Teaching and training: Lesson planning, assessment design, classroom technology, public speaking, and learner engagement.
AI is changing the field, but it is not replacing historical judgment. Tools can summarize documents, transcribe audio, or organize sources, but employers still need people who can verify evidence, understand bias, explain context, and communicate responsibly.
Most history careers do not require a state license. Historians, museum educators, archivists, researchers, editors, and policy analysts are generally hired based on education, experience, portfolio quality, and employer-specific requirements.
Teaching is the major exception. Public school history and social studies teachers usually need state teacher certification, which may involve an approved educator preparation program, exams, background checks, student teaching, and continuing education. Requirements vary by state, so a graduate who trains in one state should check reciprocity rules before relocating.
Some credentials are optional but useful. Archivists may pursue professional certification, museum professionals may complete museum studies training, and preservation roles may value GIS or cultural resource management experience. These are not the same as regulated clinical licensure; for contrast, healthcare pathways such as online masters speech pathology programs usually connect to formal state licensure requirements.
Before moving, verify whether your target role requires any of the following:
- State teacher certification for K-12 social studies or history positions.
- A graduate degree for archivist, curator, librarian, or tenure-track teaching roles.
- Background checks or security clearance for government, defense, school, or archive positions.
- Specialized credentials in preservation, records management, museum studies, GIS, or library science.
Remote and hybrid work has widened some history-related opportunities, especially in research, editing, digital archives, curriculum development, grant writing, policy support, and content production. However, many museum, archive, classroom, and preservation roles still require in-person work because they involve collections, visitors, field sites, or students.
This creates a useful strategy: graduates can live in a lower-cost state while applying for hybrid or remote roles tied to higher-demand markets. That said, remote roles often draw national applicant pools, so competition can be tougher than for local in-person jobs.
Remote-friendly history work is most realistic when the job centers on digital outputs. Look for postings that mention document review, metadata, digital collections, curriculum writing, historical content research, grant support, oral history transcription, or policy analysis.
Be cautious about assuming that "remote" means location-free. Some employers restrict remote employees to certain states for payroll, tax, security, union, or grant-compliance reasons. Federal contractors and universities may also require periodic onsite work even when the job is labeled hybrid.
The best state is the one that matches your career pathway, financial needs, and tolerance for competition. A history graduate aiming for federal records work should compare states differently from someone pursuing museum education, high school teaching, legal research, or historic preservation.
Use a structured comparison instead of chasing a single ranking. The following steps help you test whether a state is a good decision, not just a famous market.
- Define your target role first: historian, archivist, curator, teacher, legal researcher, museum educator, policy analyst, or preservation specialist.
- Search job postings by role and state, then record the employers that appear repeatedly.
- Compare salary ranges against rent, commuting costs, taxes, benefits, and student loan payments.
- Check whether the state requires teacher certification, security clearance, graduate education, or specialized credentials for your target role.
- Look for advancement signals such as supervisor roles, grant-funded projects, unionized positions, tuition benefits, and internal promotion paths.
- Evaluate competition by checking whether entry-level postings require internships, a master's degree, technical tools, or several years of experience.
- Test the market before relocating by applying to internships, fellowships, temporary archive projects, contract research roles, or informational interviews.
A common mistake is choosing a state based only on salary. Another is assuming that a prestigious museum city is automatically better for entry-level candidates.
If you want leadership roles later, you may benefit from pairing history with management, finance, or organizational strategy; some professionals considering nonprofit, museum, or education leadership compare options such as an online executive MBA after gaining work experience.
There is no single best state for every history graduate. The right choice depends on whether you want the most openings, the highest salary potential, the best affordability, the fastest growth, or the strongest alignment with a particular specialization.
Use these decision rules to narrow your options:
- Choose DC, Maryland, or Virginia if your goal is federal history, archives, policy research, records, defense-related research, or national nonprofit work.
- Choose New York, California, or Massachusetts if you want major museums, universities, publishing, media, libraries, or specialized cultural institutions and can manage higher costs.
- Choose Pennsylvania, Illinois, or Ohio if you want public history, higher education, museums, and historic sites with potentially more moderate costs than the most expensive coastal hubs.
- Choose Texas, Florida, Georgia, or North Carolina if you want growth-state opportunities, education roles, local history, museums, or multiple metro areas to compare.
- Choose Colorado, New Mexico, South Carolina, or Virginia if historic preservation, cultural resources, land use, or heritage tourism is central to your career plan.
If you are still exploring the field, build experience before making a major move. Volunteer at an archive, complete a museum internship, write public-facing history, learn digital tools, and talk to professionals in your target state. Lifelong learners and older adults who want to study history without immediately pursuing a career can also explore open university free courses for over 60s as a low-pressure way to test interest.
The smartest state choice balances opportunity with sustainability. A demanding market can be worth it if it gives you access to mentors, institutions, credentials, or federal experience you cannot get elsewhere. Staying local can be smarter if you can build experience, reduce debt, and enter the field through a nearby school, museum, archive, or public agency.
History graduates should compare states by industry concentration, not just by job title. Many positions do not advertise for a "history degree" but still rely on historical research, document analysis, writing, teaching, interpretation, and evidence-based reasoning.
The table below shows how different state markets tend to translate a history background into employment. This matters because a state can be excellent for one history pathway and weak for another:
| Industry | States where it is especially relevant | Common employers | Typical entry points |
| Federal government and policy | Washington, DC; Maryland; Virginia | Federal agencies, contractors, think tanks, national nonprofits | Research assistant, records analyst, program associate, public historian |
| Museums and cultural institutions | New York; California; Massachusetts; Illinois; Pennsylvania | Museums, historical societies, cultural nonprofits, visitor centers | Museum educator, collections assistant, interpreter, exhibit assistant |
| Archives and libraries | Maryland; DC; Massachusetts; New York; California | Universities, public libraries, government archives, special collections | Archival assistant, digitization technician, records coordinator |
| Education | Texas; California; New York; Pennsylvania; Florida | K-12 districts, colleges, tutoring firms, curriculum organizations | Teacher, adjunct instructor, curriculum assistant, academic advisor |
| Law and compliance | New York; DC; California; Texas; Illinois | Law firms, corporate legal departments, government offices | Legal researcher, paralegal assistant, document review specialist |
| Historic preservation and cultural resources | Virginia; Pennsylvania; Colorado; New Mexico; South Carolina | Preservation firms, state agencies, planning offices, heritage organizations | Preservation assistant, cultural resource technician, grant assistant |
Industry choice also affects education requirements. Museum and archives roles may prefer a master's degree in history, museum studies, library science, or public history. Teaching may require state certification. Law-adjacent roles may reward legal research training even when a law degree is not required.
Other Things You Should Know About History
Yes, but it works best when paired with applied skills. Employers value research, writing, analysis, and communication, especially when graduates can show experience in archives, teaching, museums, policy, law, digital tools, or public history.
Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia are usually the strongest choices because federal agencies, contractors, archives, museums, and policy organizations are heavily concentrated there.
Not always. Entry-level roles in education support, museums, nonprofits, legal research, and communications may accept a bachelor's degree plus experience. Archivist, curator, university teaching, and specialized research roles often prefer or require graduate study.
Move only if the role, salary, benefits, cost of living, and advancement path make sense together. If you lack experience, it may be better to build internships, volunteer work, digital skills, or teaching credentials locally before relocating to a highly competitive market.
- History Majors: Beyond the Myths and Into the Workforce https://www.graydi.us/blog/gray-insights/history-majors-beyond-the-myths-and-into-the-workforce
- Facts about history majors (from credible sources) https://employedhistorian.com/history-major/facts-about-history-majors-statistics/
- Very qualified for the future: history graduates’ employability and earnings https://www.history-uk.ac.uk/2022/07/15/very-qualified-for-the-future-history-graduates-employability-and-earnings/
- What can I do with a degree in History? | Department of History https://history.tcnj.edu/what-can-i-do/
- Who Makes Up the Labor Force?: Projecting Workforce Growth over the Next Decade https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/who-makes-up-the-labor-force/
- Annual Grad Report - ZipRecruiter Economic Research https://www.ziprecruiter-research.org/annual-grad-report
