Love numbers and statistics? Been reading our ultimate guide to internships and want some key bits of information? Well, we’ve found the key internship statistics you need to know.
To make it easier, we’ve divided our statistics by subcategory. You can skip to the bit that interests you here:
- When do people do an internship?
- Why do people do an internship?
- How much do internships pay?
- Internships and diversity
- Other internship facts
When do people do an internship?
Internships aren’t just for college students, in fact, quite the opposite!
21.5% of college students do an internship.
Sometimes it might feel like everyone around you is doing an internship, and that’s simply not the case.
A lot of people choose to do other things whilst studying such as working elsewhere, focusing on sport, or spending time catching up on studies.
Internships aren’t just for college students either, some people choose to do an internship after they graduate.
68% of interns in the United States have already completed their bachelor’s degree
Following on from the above, it might surprise you to find out that 68% of interns have already completed their degrees. Some will be doing further study such as a master’s, MBA, or PhD while others will be looking to enter the workplace once their internship is over.
31% of interns do multiple internships before entering full-time work. Women are three times more likely to do multiple internships than men.
Nearly a third of interns do more than one before finding a full-time role. Interestingly, women are three times more likely to do multiple internships than men.
A lot of this could be down to how women apply for jobs. It is an often cited stat that women only apply for roles if they are 100% qualified. It turns out that this is an exaggeration, but, even so, women apply less frequently to jobs than men, and apply when they are more qualified than their male counterparts.
Why do people do an internship?
Internships can be a vital first step on the career ladder, and financially very rewarding.
56% of US interns are offered and accept a job with the company they interned for while a further 14% are offered part-time jobs.
More than half of US interns are offered a job with the company that they intern with. For those that have already graduated college, this could mean they go straight into employment. For those who are still studying it could mean a guaranteed job as soon as they finish.
This just goes to show that an internship can be a great first step on the career ladder.
The starting salary for those who completed a paid internship is $15,000 more than the median starting salary for those who did not do an internship (paid or unpaid).
Not only are internships a great step on the career ladder, but they can also secure you more money when you get your first job.
39.2% of internships are unpaid, and 60.8% are paid.
A lot of internships are paid too, so you can expect to earn money while you’re getting important career skills.
How much do internships pay?
Let’s talk numbers, shall we? With nearly two-thirds of interns paying, here’s what you can expect to earn.
The average hourly wage for an intern is between $15.67 and $19.51 for freshmen and seniors respectively.
Some internships pay a lot more. Facebook (Meta) pays its tech interns $8,160 a month, that’s the equivalent of nearly $100,000 a year
Say you earn $15.67 an hour for a 40-hour-a-week internship, that’s the equivalent of just over $2,700 a month, it could be a great boost to your savings during the summer months of college or when you’re on the first step of the career ladder.
Want to look for the most lucrative internships? We’ve found the top 15 highest-paying internships in the US here.
The highest average intern hourly wage is in Chicago at $17.74, followed by Los Angeles at $17.26, and Boston at $17.14.
Average internship salaries vary from state to state. If you’re lucky enough to live in Chicago you’d earn over $3,000 if you’re working 40 hours a week.
Paid internships are 32% more likely to lead to a full-time job offer than unpaid internships.
Being paid during your internship doesn’t just benefit your bank balance in the short term, it can also increase your job prospects. You’re 32% more likely to be offered a full-time job if you’ve done a paid internship with an organization.
Internships and diversity
If you assume that most internships go to the most privileged students, then you’d be right. Luckily, more and more big firms are creating new initiatives to widen access to internships.
67.15% of student interns are white.
This is followed by Asians and Asian Americans at 14.18%, and Hispanic, Latinx, or Chicano/a people at 7.05%.
If you compare this to the overall student population in US Colleges, internships are underachieving when it comes to diversity. In the college system, white students make up just 42% of the student population, and Hispanic, Latinx, or Chicano/a people are the second largest group at 17.5% of the total undergraduate population.
Only 35% of women are paid during their internship.
The gender pay gap exists in internships too. 58% of men are paid during their internships.
Other internship facts
Hungry for more? Here are a few more internship facts.
The average internship lasts for 18.3 weeks, or 128.1 days, or 1,038 working hours.
Although most people think of internships as placements for one semester, or over the summer months, some internships can be up to a year long. So although a lot of internships you might see advertised are 8 – 12 weeks long, especially if you’re a college student, they can last a lot longer.
Financial services is the most popular industry for internships. 19% of interns work in financial services.
Some industries lend themselves to internships, and financial services is one of those industries. The next most popular industry is accounting, at 11%, meaning the top 30% of internships are all numbers based.
Want to land the perfect internship? Check out our guide to crafting the perfect cover letter for internships.