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Career Opportunity

Explore US career paths

22 routes with pay, training time, and tuition from public data. Shortlist a few, then compare how money builds from 18 to retirement.

Score weightsTypical pay 31% · High pay 25% · Time 25% · Tuition 19% · Fit adds Access 10%, Lifestyle 10%
Showing 22 of 22
Path to $40K+ by age

Typical pay is modeled for work years 5-10. Tuition excludes living costs.

  • 1
    74

    $436K typical · $40K+ at 26 · $222K tuition

  • 2
    72

    $280K typical · $40K+ at 26 · $222K tuition

  • 3
    72

    $152K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 4
    71

    $147K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 5
    70

    $144K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 6
    69

    $136K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 7
    68

    $184K typical · $40K+ at 25 · $193K tuition

  • 8
    68

    $135K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 9
    64

    $117K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 10
    63

    $113K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 11
    62

    $104K typical · $40K+ at 21 · $12.4K tuition

  • 12
    62

    $106K typical · $40K+ at 21 · $20.3K tuition

  • 13
    62

    $193K typical · $40K+ at 26 · $268K tuition

  • 14
    60

    $106K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 15
    59

    $150K typical · $40K+ at 25 · $158K tuition

  • 16
    58

    $94.6K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 17
    57

    $92.5K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

  • 18
    56

    $72.5K typical · $40K+ at 20 · $5,000 tuition

  • 19
    54

    $153K typical · $40K+ at 26 · $191K tuition

  • 20
    54

    $71.7K typical · $40K+ at 21 · $5,000 tuition

  • 21
    53

    $68.2K typical · $40K+ at 20 · $6,411 tuition

  • 22
    52

    $80.9K typical · $40K+ at 22 · $47.8K tuition

Shortlist 2

Your shortlist

2 of 6

Rate fit, then compare up to three at a time on the chart.

Fit score appears for a career once you rate it. 0 of 2 rated.

  • Technology

    Score 72 · Fit (rate both) · $2.47M at 67with $141K gap financing

    Access How reachable is this path for you?

    Not rated

    Lifestyle How well does the work fit the life you want?

    Not rated

  • Health care

    Score 72 · Fit (rate both) · $3.1M at 67with $261K gap financing

    Access How reachable is this path for you?

    Not rated

    Lifestyle How well does the work fit the life you want?

    Not rated

Your judgment, not a measurement. Ratings only affect the Fit score.

Money from 18 to retirement

Assumptions 4% return · 20% saved · $30K living · 5% state tax · retire at 67

Net worth at67, start of retirement
Software$2.47MStart of retirementPeak gap debt $163K
Family medicine$3.1MStart of retirementPeak gap debt $345K
  • Software stages: Undergraduate 18 to 21, Working 22 to 66
  • Family medicine stages: Undergraduate 18 to 21, Medical school 22 to 25, Residency 26 to 28, Working 29 to 66

Modeled, in 2026 dollars. Balances are shown at each birthday.

Family medicine catches Software in net worth at 47 and does not fall behind through 67, the start of retirement. Conditional on the assumed gap financing. Modeled.

Conditional on funding. Software assumes $141K of gap financing beyond modeled loans; Family medicine assumes $261K of gap financing beyond modeled loans. Hypothetical, not approved credit.

At key ages

Net worth at key ages. Select an age to show it in the chart.
Career
Software−$39.1K$105K$447K$962K$1.73M$2.47M
Family medicine−$458K−$491K$345K$1.04M$2.08M$3.1M

Score factors

Factor scores out of 100. Your priorities weight them. Access and Lifestyle are your ratings and count only in the Fit score.

Typical pay
Software:73Family medicine:100
High pay
Software:59Family medicine:95
Time to $40K
Software:71Family medicine:43
Tuition and fees
Software:86Family medicine:36
Access
Software:Not ratedFamily medicine:Not rated
Lifestyle
Software:Not ratedFamily medicine:Not rated

Assumptions

Apply to every career, in September 2026 dollars.

Spending and saving
$
a year

Default $30,000. Every age, including school.

%

Default 20%, when cash allows.

$
at 18

Default $0.

Returns and retirement
% a year

Default 4%. After fees and investment taxes.

age

Default 67. The last modeled year ends the day before.

Taxes and borrowing
%

Default 5%, a flat charge.

%

Default 6%. Hypothetical borrowing for shortfalls.

%

Default 2.5%. Converts nominal loan rates.

Dollar basis
September 2026 purchasing power
Taxes
2026 federal and payroll rules, single filer
Data
Evidence 2026-10-26-expanded-v2, model 3.0.0

Scores rank routes. Fixed anchors and your weights rank routes; Fit adds your own ratings. Neither predicts your success. Scoring

Wealth is modeled. A year-by-year cash-flow ledger in constant 2026 dollars, including any assumed gap financing. Ledger

Sources are dated. Every figure names its source and period. Open a career to see them. Sources