<p>In addition to mathyone’s advice about talking to lots of folks about this, here’s some more advice from someone who’s been there.
I am an Applied math PhD (UMD - 1994)and am now a tenured prof at a regional university, with an emphasis on teaching. I graduated into a very bad job market and the market is even worse now. Many retirements are replaced by adjuncts or one-year faculty, rather than tenured track faculty, at smaller places. At the large universities, the tendency is to hire fewer TT professors - these positions are extremely competitive.</p>
<p>Look at [American</a> Mathematical Society :: Homepage](<a href=“http://www.ams.org%5DAmerican”>http://www.ams.org) for objective stats about the math job market by specialties. Also look at [SIAM:</a> Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics](<a href=“http://www.siam.org%5DSIAM:”>http://www.siam.org) for info about applied math. Industry hires some applied mathematicians, but they have to be in the right subfield of applied math, like optimization, statistics etc. Also PhD’s from programs that are not top-tier are not as well regarded because there is a wide range in quality of PhD programs in math. This comes into play when you apply for jobs and postdoc opportunities. </p>
<p>PhD programs, especially the ones not in the toptier, are not forthcoming about job opportunities. A PhD is a tremendous investment of time, especially in your prime 20’s, and keeps you from pursuing other goals which could prove more professionally rewarding in the long run.</p>