Mental Floss

Here Are the Highest Paying Jobs in the U.S.

By Michele Debczak

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iStock / iStock
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Lots of components factor into our career choices, and a big one is salary. A new report from LinkedIn confirms what many people in the healthcare industry already know: All those years in medical school really do pay off.

Drawing from its own salary data, LinkedIn recently compiled a list of the 20 positions in the U.S. with the highest median base pay. Jobs in the medical sector dominate, with cardiologist, radiologist, anesthesiologist, surgeon, and medical director occupying the top five slots. The list also makes room for tech positions like staff software engineer and legal jobs like patent attorney. You can refer to the full list of occupations and their median base salaries below.

1. Cardiologist - $356,000
2. Radiologist - $355,000
3. Anesthesiologist - $350,000
4. Surgeon - $338,000
5. Medical Director - $230,000
6. Pathologist - $225,000
7. Physician (general) - $220,000
8. Hospitalist - $220,000
9. Psychiatrist - $218,000
10. Senior Corporate Counsel - $175,000
11. Staff Software Engineer - $168,000
12. Dentist - $165,000
13. Director of Engineering - $164,000
14. Tax Director - $161,000
15. Director Product Management - $160,000
16. Patent Attorney - $160,000
17. Anesthetist - $156,000
18. Senior Software Engineering Manager - $155,000
19. Global Marketing Director - $155,000
20. Podiatrist - $150,000

If investing in eight-plus years of education isn’t a feasible option for you (or if the sight of blood makes you woozy), there are plenty of lucrative jobs that can be secured with just a Bachelor’s degree. According to information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest paying jobs that don’t require grad school are chief executive (with a median annual wage of $175,110), architectural and engineering manager ($132,800), and computer and information systems manager ($131,600). There’s also room for people to grow their salaries if they’ve already settled on a career—just as long as they’re willing to ask for what they want and seek out new opportunities.