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2026 Guide to Compensation for Interns & Co-ops

Strengthen your pipeline

Set competitive intern pay using the latest national benchmarks

Based on verified compensation data from 280+ U.S. organizations in the 2024–25 internship cycle, the 2026 edition provides trusted benchmarks to support internship pay planning and budgeting.

Use this compensation benchmarking tool to:

  • See 25th percentile, mean, median, and 75th percentile intern salary ranges
  • Benchmark your intern and co-op wages against similar organizations
  • Support compensation decisions with finance and HR
  • Improve internship offer acceptance rates

Fee: $345 (members); $510 (nonmembers)

Purchase now See available benchmarks

March 2026. 8 1/2” x 11”. 78 pages. PDF format.

Free for member organizations that participated in the survey.

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2026 Guide to compensation for Interns and Coops
COMPARE WAGE DATA BY

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Industry

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Major

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Degree

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Year of study

Plan with confidence

Align intern salary bands with current market standards

Drive informed conversations about pay expectations, strengthen your offer strategies, and build an early talent pipeline that actually converts using real wage and benefit data.

Sample data + available benchmark dimensions

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Industries included

Get intern + co-op hourly wage rates broken down by industry, major, degree, and year of study.
  • Accounting Services
  • Chemical (Pharmaceutical) Manufacturing
  • Computer & Electronics Manufacturing
  • Construction
  • Engineering Services
  • Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate
  • Food & Beverage Manufacturing
  • Miscellaneous Manufacturing
  • Miscellaneous Professional Services
  • Miscellaneous Support Services
  • Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
  • Social Services
  • Transportation
  • Utilities
  • Wholesale Trade

Majors included

Get intern + co-op hourly wage rates broken down by major, degree, and year of study.
  • Accounting
  • Actuarial Science
  • Agricultural Science
  • Business Administration
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Finance
  • Health Sciences/Nursing
  • Human Resources
  • Humanities/Liberal Arts (e.g., English, History, etc.)
  • Law/Paralegal
  • Marketing
  • Math/Statistics
  • Physical Sciences
  • Social Sciences (e.g., Psychology, Political Science, etc.)

Wages by company size

Get intern + co-op hourly wage rates broken down by company size, major, degree, and year of study.
  • 500 or less employees
  • 501 - 1,000 employees
  • 1,001 - 2,500 employees
  • 2,501 - 5,000 employees
  • 5,001 - 10,000 employees
  • 10,001 - 20,000 employees
  • 20,000+ employees

Wages by degree

Get intern + co-op hourly wage rates broken down by degree and year of study.
  • Associate
  • Bachelor’s
  • Master’s
  • Doctoral

Wages by region

Get intern + co-op hourly wage rates broken down by region, major, degree, and year of study.
  • New England
  • Mid East
  • Great Lakes
  • Plains
  • Southeast
  • Southwest
  • Rocky Mountains/Far West
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Purchase the 2026 Internship & Co-op Report + Guide to Compensation Combo to dive even deeper into wage data.

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Participation strengthens the research—and ensures your organization is represented in national comparisons.

Members who participate in NACE research surveys receive free access to the full product for every single NACE member at their organization! Plus, nonmembers who participate are eligible for a discounted rate.

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