The 25 Best Paying Careers.. and the Worst

Forbes announced its annual list of the 25 best paying careers and the worst. Forbes drew info from the U.S. government's National, State and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. This 2006 data was based on a national survey of employers of various sizes, industries and occupations.

I am very familiar with these government estimates. The government does a great job with the broad forces at work (macro economics) in employment and compensation. It is a little funny that Forbes uses the government defined occupations, because the sizes of the ~800 occupations vary widely. For example, both Mine Shuttle Car Operators with 3,000 workers nation-wide and Sales Representatives with 1.5 million are "occupations".

Not surprisingly, top paying jobs in the medical field dominate the list of careers. According to Forbes, anesthesiologists had a salary increase of 5.8%. If we take a look at our PayScale research center, anesthesiologist salaries in major cities are north of $200,000; not bad for knocking someone out.

What about the worst paying jobs? Food preparation and serving workers top that lowly list of careers. According to Forbes, there was a 2.4% increase in these salaries, bringing the average salary of a food preparation and serving worker up to $15,930.

Is your salary one of the best paying careers, or one of the worst?  Find out with our salary survey.

Top Paying Jobs in The Medical Field

Health care salaries are going strong with surgeons, dentists, and obstetricians all near the top. Orthodontists make big bucks for fitting people with braces. Some may be surprised how high salary goes for orthodontists. I am not, having paid for braces for my children :-) The average salary for orthodontists in major cities can be more than $200,000/year; that should put a smile on their faces!

Forbes did a good job in the article explaining the caveats with the government data. This survey, like PayScale's, is about employees: that is, workers who draw an hourly wage or annual salary. As I have discussed before, while some surgeons draw a salary at a hospital, many are like small business owners, and are not included in the government survey.

Highest Paying Jobs with Less Schooling

For those who would rather skip medical school, or a higher education entirely, there is the option of working as an air traffic controller. These airway traffic cops saw their salary increase 4.2%. The average salary in metropolitan airports for air traffic controllers ranges from $48,000 to $92,000.

Another high paying vocation, which does not require a college diploma (though one is handy), is a computer and information systems manager. These computer whizzes saw an increase in salary of 4.8%. According to the PayScale research center, an information systems manager typically earn between $60,000 and $75,000 depending on the state, though pay varies widely with experience, specific skills, etc. Use the PayScale salary calculator to investigate further.

Worst Average Salary: Fast Food Salaries

On the other end of the Forbes article are the jobs with the worst pay. Most are fast food salaries. Fast food cooks, who often work over a flame grill while wearing a paper hat (sounds a bit dangerous!), typically earn a hourly wage of $6.00 to $7.50. The variation by state largely tracks the minimum wage laws, according to the PayScale research center.

A host or hostess job in a restaurant might sound better, but pay-wise it is not much of an improvement. A host or hostess earns an average wage of $7.50 to $9.00 per hour, though this does not include his or her cut of the tips. Rounding out the bottom of the salary scale are child care workers. According to the PayScale research center, the average wage of a child care worker is between $7.50 and $10.00 an hour, depending on the state.

How does your salary compare to a child care worker's pay? The PayScale Salary Calculator is a quick and easy way to compare positions. When you want powerful salary data and comparisons customized for your exact position, be sure to build a complete profile by taking PayScale's full salary survey.

Cheers,

Dr. Al Lee

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• Highest Paying Jobs for Bachelor's Degree - EducatedNation.com

Comments

[Susan Telcher]

Dr. Lee is not up to date on his information regarding union electricians who don't need degrees to ply their trade. Local #3 electrical apprentices in New York State must get at least an Associate Degree in order to get their cards. A college education is a requisite part of their training. I know -- I'm one of the instructors at the Harry Van Arsdale center for Labor Studies, part of Empire State College, S.U.N.Y.

[MArie McDonald]

How much does a lawyer make an hour. I am having to do a school project about what i want to be in life and do some research on it so i asking some questions.

[Mick]

Whoa, sounds like Susan just wanted to brush off her shoulders, as they say, and boast of her credentials.

The article was enlightening.

[Dr. Al Lee, PhD]

Susan - This post does not mention electricians - I suspect you are referring to this one: http://blogs.payscale.com/ask_dr_salary/2007/04/no_college_requ.html

Other readers also pointed out that being an electrician is a job which requires extensive training and education.

I am sorry my article was confusing. I did not mean that the jobs in the article were easy to learn and simple to do, just that they did not require a traditional 4-year college degree.

The jobs I gave were a mix: some pay more because of the physical demands, some require extensive training or experience, and others can be dangerous.

Discussions of jobs often focus on jobs that require a college education or strongly favor having one. While 50% of high school graduates go to 4-year colleges today, the other 50% do not, and there needs to be a discussion of jobs for everyone.

This article was an attempt to talk about some career paths, and what they pay, for people who do not want to face, or cannot afford, four more years in a classroom taking traditional subjects.

As someone who taught physics to college students, I can tell you that the concepts of electricity an Electrician knows well, i.e., the difference between voltage, current, and resistance, what it means when something is grounded, etc., were well beyond a fair fraction of my students. Even though some went on to be engineers, I would not let them rewire my kitchen :-)

Marie - See my recent post on Lawyers: http://blogs.payscale.com/ask_dr_salary/2007/09/median-vs-mean-.html

What an Attorney *typically* earns per hour is not an easy question to answer :-)

Mick - Thanks for the positive feedback; you made my weekend!

Cheers, Al Lee (Dr. Salary)

[Maven]

Great article Dr.Salary!! By the way, even though 50% of the us population goes to university, only around 28% of the population between 25-29 actually have a minimum of a university degree (I forgot from which governmental site I saw this, but I know this to be true).