{"id":798797,"date":"2026-05-15T18:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798797\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T18:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:45:16","slug":"the-13-highest-paying-jobs-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798797\/","title":{"rendered":"The 13 Highest-Paying Jobs in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years of schooling in healthcare usually pay off.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data showing the pay of hundreds of occupations as of May 2025. Many positions earn six figures, exceeding the national average of $69,770.<\/p>\n

Pay can be one factor job seekers consider when they’re applying for work. A lot of people are actively seeking jobs<\/a> in the US: 7.2 million people were unemployed in March, outpacing the number of openings. It’s also graduation season, so more people may be tweaking their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, building a network<\/a>, and scouring postings in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Studying to become an ophthalmologist, a pediatric surgeon, or a pilot<\/a> can lead to high compensation.<\/p>\n

Business Insider ranked the new occupation estimates by average annual wage, excluding catchall job categories, such as “Surgeons, all other.” Almost all of the 13 top-paying jobs typically require a doctoral or professional degree. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers usually need a bachelor’s.<\/p>\n

Below are the 13 highest-paying jobs, alongside estimates of how many Americans are employed in them.<\/p>\n

13. Psychiatrists<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Fiordaliso\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $269,940<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 27,980<\/p>\n

12. Obstetricians and gynecologists<\/p>\n

\"Obstetrician-gynecologist<\/p>\n

Halfpoint Images\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $279,040<\/p>\n

Employment: <\/strong>21,260<\/p>\n

11. Pathologists<\/p>\n

\"Pathologist<\/p>\n

JulieanneBirch\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $285,420<\/p>\n

Employment: <\/strong>11,110<\/p>\n

10. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers<\/p>\n

\"Pilots<\/p>\n

Andrea Comi\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $288,650<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 103,560<\/p>\n

9. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric<\/p>\n

\"Ophthalmologist<\/p>\n

aire images\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $304,650<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 8,950<\/p>\n

8. Emergency medicine physicians<\/p>\n

\"Healthcare<\/p>\n

Ariel Skelley\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $317,480<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 32,880<\/p>\n

7. Dermatologists<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Oleg Breslavtsev\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $323,530<\/p>\n

Employment: <\/strong>11,370<\/p>\n

6. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons<\/p>\n

\"Dental<\/p>\n

Dimensions\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $346,490<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 4,910<\/p>\n

5. Anesthesiologists<\/p>\n

\"Anesthesiologist\"\/<\/p>\n

PixelCatchers\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $360,570<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 38,760<\/p>\n

4. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Halfpoint Images\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $373,570<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 14,100<\/p>\n

3. Radiologists<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tom Werner\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $381,530<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 26,770<\/p>\n

2. Cardiologists<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

MoMo Productions\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage: <\/strong>$454,940<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 17,290<\/p>\n

1. Pediatric surgeons<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

FS Productions\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Average annual wage:<\/strong> $502,050<\/p>\n

Employment:<\/strong> 1,190<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Years of schooling in healthcare usually pay off. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data showing the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":798798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[4381,210,1141,1142,30269,4572,75703,11395,297134,48555,36471,325611,3546,57315,3065,67,132,68,1628],"class_list":["post-798797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-business-insider","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-highest-paying-job","tag-hundred","tag-labor-statistics","tag-may","tag-new-datum","tag-occupation","tag-pay","tag-pediatric-surgeon","tag-people","tag-pilot","tag-schooling","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116580078403929641","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}