ROI Major

Industrial Production Technologies at Northwest State Community College

OH · Associate's Degree · CIP 15.06

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Industrial Production Technologies degree from Northwest State Community College earn a median salary of $65,986 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in OH, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $73,236. The degree typically pays for itself in 7.9 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$47,119

Typical Career

$65,986

Top Performers

$75,634

Estimated break-even: 7.9 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$440

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $5,499. Most students can comfortably afford about a $440 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.7x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.8x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Ohio buys what costs $0.90 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, Retail Trade.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 30.5%
Manufacturing 25.0%
Retail Trade 8.0%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$73,236

Nominal: $65,986 in Ohio (COL 90.1% of national avg) · 11% higher purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

7.9 years to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $32,492 $39,731 $54,051
5 Years After Graduation $47,119 $65,986 $75,634
10 Years After Graduation $55,111 $71,212 $89,036

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $65,986 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in OH, which has a cost-of-living index of 90.1% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $65,986 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9010) = $73,236 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Industrial Production Technologies program at Northwest State Community College can expect a solid earnings trajectory. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $39,731, which increases to $65,986 five years post-graduation and reaches $71,212 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equates to approximately $73,236.4 nationally, indicating that graduates maintain a competitive income relative to the national average despite being based in Ohio, where the cost of living index is lower at 0.901.

The program's graduates primarily enter the Health Care & Social Assistance sector, which accounts for 66.0% of employment, followed by a significant 30.5% in the same sector, and 25.0% in Manufacturing. With an estimated break-even point of approximately 7.9 years compared to a high-school-only path, the return on investment for pursuing this degree appears favorable. The data suggests that graduates can expect a strong career trajectory in growing industries, reinforcing the value of this educational path.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.