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How to Become a Historian: Degree & Salary (2026)
Key takeaway: There is no license to become a historian, but there is a practical gate: a graduate degree and a record of research. The occupation is small. It employed 3,400 people in 2024, is projected to grow 2.2 percent through 2034, and generates about 300 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Historians earn a national median annual wage of $76,750 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Most people who do historical work for a living hold a different job title: archivist, curator, teacher, records analyst, or researcher.
Start with the honest version of this path. “Historian” as a job title is rare, and it usually means a research position inside an institution rather than the professor most people picture. Federal and state agencies employ historians. So do the military service history offices, the National Park Service, historical societies, museums, corporations with archives, and consulting firms that do research for litigation, environmental review, or historic preservation compliance. Faculty positions are counted separately as postsecondary teachers, and they require a doctorate.
That is not a discouraging framing. It is the map. The route runs through a graduate degree, a demonstrated body of research, and usually an applied skill that makes you useful to a specific kind of employer.
Step-by-step: how to become a historian
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Earn a bachelor’s degree and take the research seriously. An online bachelor’s in history is the standard start, though graduate programs admit strong applicants from adjacent majors. What matters is the methods course, the seminar papers, and a capstone built on primary sources. Those papers become the writing sample your graduate application turns on. Confirm institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database; there is no programmatic accreditor for history.
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Choose a field and start reading like a specialist. Historians are hired for a specialty, not for general historical interest. Pick a region, period, or theme, learn what the current arguments in it are, and if the sources are not in English, start the language early. A vague application that likes all of history reads as an application with no research question.
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Get a master’s degree, and choose the track deliberately. An online master’s in history is the working credential for public history, archives, and community college teaching. An academic MA is the step toward doctoral work. Public history tracks add archival theory, preservation, digital collections, and a practicum, which is what agency and museum employers hire on.
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Build a research record and an applied skill. Employers want evidence that you can complete a project: a thesis, a published article, a digital exhibit, a finding aid you wrote, a preservation report. Add one skill the field pays for – archival description standards, geographic information systems, digitization workflows, data analysis, or a research language. This is what separates two candidates with the same degree.
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Decide whether you need a doctorate. A PhD is required for most four-year faculty positions and for senior research roles in some agencies. It is not required for archives, museums, public history, or most government research work. Postsecondary history teaching is projected to decline 0.2 percent through 2034, with 1,700 openings a year across 24,600 positions (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Enter that pipeline with a specific plan, not a default one.
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Apply where historical work actually happens. Watch federal and state agency postings, the military history offices, the National Park Service, state historic preservation offices, museums, historical societies, and cultural resource management consulting firms. Many roles are project-funded and term-limited, particularly in consulting, and moving between contracts is common early in this career.
What degree do you need to be a historian?
No license exists. In practice, employers screen this way:
- A bachelor’s alone rarely reaches a position titled historian. It reaches research assistant, museum technician, records, and program support roles, and it is a complete general credential. Museum technicians and conservators had a median annual wage of $51,440 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS) and are a common entry point.
- A master’s is the practical working credential for public history, archives, and government research. Archivists earned a median of $64,550 and curators $63,420 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), and both hire at this level.
- A PhD is the credential for four-year faculty work and senior research posts. It is a long commitment aimed at a shrinking occupation.
- If archives are the destination rather than research, add or substitute a library science degree accredited by the American Library Association, which many archives employers prefer.
- If teaching is the destination, the credential that matters is a state license, not a graduate history degree. See the education program guide.
See Is a History Degree Worth It? for how to weigh the degree against the roles it actually reaches.
How much do historians make?
Historians earn a national median annual wage of $76,750 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Half earn more, half earn less. The spread is wide: the 10th percentile was $42,730 and the 90th percentile was $131,810 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). The top of that range generally reflects senior federal positions rather than entry-level research work.
View the data behind this chart
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $42,730 |
| 25th percentile | $57,290 |
| Median | $76,750 |
| 75th percentile | $99,990 |
| 90th percentile | $131,810 |
Employment context matters as much as the wage here. The occupation held 3,400 positions in 2024, is projected to grow 2.2 percent through 2034, and produces about 300 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Compare that with the adjacent occupations most history graduates enter: archivists at a median of $64,550 with 1,100 openings a year, curators at $63,420 with 1,800, museum technicians and conservators at $51,440 with 1,900, librarians and media collections specialists at $68,270 with 13,500, and secondary school teachers at $72,040 with 66,200 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Postsecondary history teachers earn the highest median at $83,820 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), against a projected decline of 0.2 percent (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034).
How long does it take to become a historian?
| Phase | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree with a research capstone | About 4 years full-time; shorter with transfer credit (approximately 120 semester hours) |
| Master’s degree | Varies by school and enrollment intensity – confirm credits and thesis or exam route |
| Doctorate, if the goal is faculty work | Several years beyond the master’s, including dissertation research |
| Building a research record | Ongoing; starts with undergraduate seminar papers |
| Entry into a historian-titled position | Depends on openings, which number about 300 a year nationally |
These are ranges rather than guarantees. Catalogs set credit totals; hiring calendars and agency budgets set everything else.
Frequently asked questions
What degree do you need to be a historian?
A graduate degree in practice. A master’s is the working credential for public history, archives, and government research, and a doctorate is required for most four-year faculty positions. A bachelor’s reaches research support, technician, and records roles rather than positions titled historian.
Do you need a license or certification to be a historian?
No state license exists for historians. Voluntary professional certification exists in adjacent specialties, including archival certification, and some employers value it. Institutional accreditation matters when choosing where to study; verify schools through the U.S. Department of Education database.
Where do historians actually work?
Federal and state agencies, military history offices, the National Park Service, state historic preservation offices, historical societies, museums, corporate archives, and consulting firms doing research for litigation, environmental review, and preservation compliance. Faculty positions are counted separately as postsecondary teachers.
How much do historians make?
Historians earn a national median annual wage of $76,750 – the 10th percentile at $42,730 and the 90th percentile at $131,810 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Senior federal research positions sit toward the top of that range.
Is it hard to get a job as a historian?
The occupation is small: about 300 openings a year across 3,400 positions (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Candidates who compete well have a defined specialty, a completed research project, and an applied skill such as archival description, preservation, or geographic information systems. Most people who do historical work hold an adjacent job title instead.
Can I become a historian with an online degree?
Yes, if the institution is accredited and the program requires real primary-source research. In IPEDS 2024, 1,171 institutions reported bachelor’s-or-higher completions in history and 992 of them reported offering distance-education programs (IPEDS 2024). What graduate committees and employers evaluate is your research writing, not the delivery format.
Related guides
- Online History Degrees Guide – the full hub covering degree levels and program formats
- Online Bachelor’s in History – methods, capstone, and the undergraduate research record
- Online Master’s in History – academic MA versus public history, and what each one hires into
- What Can You Do With a History Degree? – the full occupation list with BLS wages
- Library Science Program Guide – the accredited credential many archives employers prefer
- Education Program Guide – licensure, if teaching is the destination
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025 national medians) and Employment Projections (2024-2034).
Data verified: September 5, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.