Many people will chose careers based on salary. There is nothing wrong with picking a career based on salary. You gotta look out for yourself, and your family, and a high paying career is a great way to accomplish this. So, here are the best paying majors out there.
Finance is an easy pick for high salary. Banks and corporate finance are some of the best paying careers out there. Investment Banking makes serious money, and high finance jobs such as hedge funds and private equity both paying 500k+ a year just a few years out of undergrad. Corporate finance is no slouch either. Many tech firms pay similar amounts to banks, and you can rise up to the position of controllership, or even CFO! So, if you're purely focused on money, and no passion, go for finance. But, if you want to make money while having some passion for your work, some of the other majors listed will better.
One area of engineering isn't listed, because there are a ton, all of which make different salaries. Software engineering is also not included here, as that'll be discussed later. Most careers in engineering are high paying, low working hours type deal, which is great for people who love their work life balance. The best paying degrees here are CE, EE, ChemE, AE, and MechE. These jobs almost guarantee 6 figures at some point in your career, and working for one of these large F500 can mean 6 figures straight out of UG. However, you shouldn't pick these majors/careers unless you absolutely know you want to do these majors. There are simply easier ways to make money than engineering, but if you enjoy engineering and you're a smart, dedicated person, there are few majors/careers that can pay higher.
Ah yes, computer science. The major that almost every single job board and advisor has been pushing for the last decade. CS and software engineering has come under a lot of pressure in recent years due to tech layoffs. However, dedicated students with internships can and will succeed in this major. You should have some level of interest in the major; otherwise, it will be a complete and total drag. Being able to code for hours is kinda a requirement for this major, but if you can get through the major itself you don't need to code for actual work. I mean, Data scientists rarely code and DevOps is more server based, and CS!=SWE.
Applied math is an odd major at first, but we live in an increasingly data driven world. You can easily work in finance, tech, or other large industries with this degree, or go to grad school and become a PhD holder. This is an excellent degree, albiet a hard one.
Architecture isn't the highest paying or best here, but it does still pay well and provide some level of stability, so it must be mentioned. It is probably the hardest major out there, with only physics or EE comparing in difficulty, so make sure you enjoy it.
Business degrees aren't the highest paying, but they're easy and you can get a ton of jobs with them. Marketing, finance, operations, PM; all of these jobs are decent paying and you can get them with a business degree.
Getting a degree in a high paying field is a pretty good decision. In the world we live in high paying careers are becoming increasingly necessary for financial freedom. Having financial freedom will allow you the finance to pursue hobbies and passions without the restraint of finance. And if you don't care about passion, just do finance and get that bag.