OEWS Ranked
Highest Paying Careers
Career-level pay is driven by scarce skills, credential barriers, and industry margins. This ranking surfaces occupations where the national mean wage sits in the upper tier of the OEWS distribution — useful when comparing long-horizon career paths rather than single job offers.
$502,050
Top mean wage
$309,469
List average
25
Occupations ranked
National ranking
Click any occupation for state-level salaries, percentiles, and real (cost-of-living adjusted) pay.
| $502,050 | $502,050 | $241 | 1,190 | |
SOC: 29-1212 | $454,940 | $454,940 | $219 | 17,290 |
SOC: 29-1224 | $381,530 | $381,530 | $183 | 26,770 |
| $373,570 | $373,570 | $180 | 14,100 | |
| $363,939 | $364,360 | $175 | 49,490 | |
| $360,570 | $360,570 | $173 | 38,760 | |
| $346,490 | $346,490 | $167 | 4,910 | |
| $323,530 | $323,530 | $156 | 11,370 | |
| Find Dermatologists Jobs | ||||
| $317,480 | $317,480 | $153 | 32,880 | |
| $303,076 | $304,650 | $146 | 9,060 | |
| $291,342 | $288,650 | $140 | 203,140 | |
| $285,420 | $285,420 | $137 | 11,110 | |
| $279,040 | $279,040 | $134 | 21,260 | |
SOC: 29-1210 | $277,212 | $277,260 | $133 | 755,310 |
| $270,999 | $269,630 | $130 | 234,930 | |
| $270,999 | $269,630 | $130 | 234,930 | |
| Find Chief Executives Jobs | ||||
SOC: 29-1223 | $269,940 | $269,940 | $130 | 27,980 |
SOC: 29-1217 | $267,630 | $267,630 | $129 | 10,590 |
| $267,200 | $267,200 | $128 | 67,150 | |
| $264,264 | $268,630 | $127 | 910 | |
SOC: 29-1023 | $259,400 | $259,400 | $125 | 6,210 |
| $255,820 | $255,820 | $123 | 107,510 | |
| $253,639 | $243,730 | $122 | 277,770 | |
| $248,320 | $248,320 | $119 | 51,840 | |
| Find Nurse Anesthetists Jobs | ||||
| $248,320 | $248,320 | $119 | 51,840 | |
Methodology
Occupations with national mean annual wage of $90,000 or more, ordered by mean wage. Source: BLS OEWS. Medians and percentiles are on each occupation’s salary page.
Full documentation: Wage Atlas methodology and data sources.