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Boston Career Explorer

Educational Instruction and Library

Economics Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses in economics. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Also called: Adjunct Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Economics Instructor, Economics Lecturer, Economics Professor

Compare with my current job (Political Scientists)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$174,910
Jobs in Greater Boston
530
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+5.9%
60 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Doctoral or professional degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$84,380$118,200$174,910$229,710$411,850

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as econometrics, price theory, and macroeconomics.
  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
  • Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure84 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 88
  • Language-model AIOE 93
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 70

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is higher for this job, while observed AI use is little or none so far. AI tools can help with drafting lectures and course materials, summarizing research, and grading. Mentoring students, original research, and discussion with colleagues still rely on people.

Likely to change

  • Drafting lectures and course materials
  • Grading and summarizing literature

Still relies on people

  • Mentoring students and answering questions
  • Designing original research

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

32 programs near Boston (plus 24 graduate)

Related occupations

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