Exploring The World Of High-Paying Jobs
After you've walked across the stage, did a little legwork, paid your dues, or received your doctorate, many entering the work force are looking to apply for high paying job position. There is no secret that certain jobs and career fields are paying their employees more money, which has become one of the main motivating factors for applying for particular job titles, fields, and duties. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation, white-collar earners are paid on the average a little more than $20 per hour, while blue-collar workers receive an average of $15 per hour. The occupational group that is paid by the hour usually receives an average pay of about $10 per hour.
When it comes to landing the jobs that offer the most pay, education is key in making the grade in the high-paying work world. For some companies, at least a four-year college degree is required from their job applicants. In the United States, there are certain job fields that have consistently presented the most appealing salary packages over the years. Leading the way in high-paying job listings are positions in the medical, judicial, and technology fields.
Overall Top-Paying Jobs
When achieving an advanced degree, many doors will open up with numerous passageways leading towards a wealth of competitive top-paying jobs. After all the years of medical school have been completed, doctors and surgeons will make an average of $147,000 per year. As for dentists, they linger around an average pay of $90,000. Looking for a career in pharmacy? Average pay includes a yearly salary of $85,500.
While police officers scour the streets in search for the individuals who lead to the bread and butter of the judicial system, lawyers and judges receive an average yearly pay of $99,800. If you've trained to fly the friendly skies and are good at what you do, you may earn an average salary of $133,500 as an aircraft pilot. Managing a company is also a rather profitable job with average yearly pay totaling $116,000 for some chief executives.
Engineers also make a pretty penny with an average yearly salary of $112,000 just for learning the ropes of the electrical and electronic field. Depending on the area you are situated in, the following job titles fetch an average yearly salary between the low- to mid- $80,000 range: management analysts; computer and information system managers; financial analysts, managers and advisors; marketing and sales managers; and education administrators.
As you scan the job prospects in your area according to title, you should know that your location will affect the high pay received. For example, different cities, states, and neighborhoods display a wide-range of fluctuating low, median, and high base salaries per job description. For example, a real estate attorney in Battle Creek, Michigan aims to make an average of $87,000 to $164,000 per year, whereas the same real estate attorney situated in Bronx, New York is looking at making between $100,000 and $188,000 per year. Of course, the cost of living makes some yearly salaries appear better than what they really turn out to be.
Top Paying Jobs: Without a High School Degree
For those who did not finish out their high school education, there are still jobs in the work force that allow on-the-job training and work experience to fetch a reasonable salary. When formal education and schooling is lacking, some individuals have found profit in becoming an industrial production manager ($36,000); bailiff or correctional officer/jailer ($36,400); drafter ($36,000); construction manager ($33,600); and electrician ($31,900).
Top Paying Jobs: High School Graduates
On-the-job training and work experience also helps high school graduates make a decent living as computer software engineers ($58,900); computer/information systems managers ($56,400); computer programmers ($55,000); network systems and data communications analysts ($49,000); general and operations managers ($48,000); and database, network and computer systems administrators ($48,000).
Top Paying Jobs: Two-Year College Degree
Job-specific training and proper certification can land a two-year college graduate a job as a health-care practitioner for an average yearly salary of $66,000. Additional job prospects include business analyst ($58,000); electrical and electronic engineers ($57,000); mechanical engineers ($56,800); and general and operations managers ($54,000).
Top Paying Companies
Sometimes job seekers will search for the companies that promise the highest pay and then see where they can fit into the inner workings of the business. It is important to remember that there is always room to rise within a large company and promotions can be earned in some arenas in less than a couple of years. Depending on the job title you wish to pursue, you should prepare yourself for a highly competitive world for securing the positions that pay the most. Below are a few companies who are topping the lists for the best places to work with the highest pay:
1) Nixon Peabody: Associate attorneys within this job setting earn an average total pay of $181,000 per year, which is considered one of the largest law firms within the United States. With about 600 attorneys spread across more than 15 cities, some of the top lawyers can be found in their Boston and New York City offices.
2) Bingham McCutchen: Associates working at this Boston-based law firm receive an average total pay of $180,050, which has been regarded as one of leading firms to accept the highest amount of female applicants.
3) Adobe Systems: As a senior computer scientist, you stand to earn an average paycheck totaling around $161,000 for one of the most pioneering software companies in the world. Employees also receive quarterly profit-sharing bonuses with all beginning employees given a stock option grant.
4) EOG Resources: As an engineer, you stand to earn an average yearly salary of $145,000 when working for one of the largest independent oil and gas drillers within the nation. Employees also enjoy some of the most liberal 401(k) matches.
5) Network Appliance: The average total pay for engineers that provide support for various hardware and software is about $130,000 per year.
6) SRA International: Project managers working at this company earn about $129,000 while working alongside government agencies like the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice.
7) Boston Consulting Group: With an average total pay of $129,000 per year, consultants at this firm conduct business with an assortment of Fortune 500 companies. Exceptional bonuses are also included.
Who Earns the Most Based on Their Educational Level
Who Earns the Most Based on Their Educational Level
By Ed Bagley
Colleges and universities are fond of reminding anyone who will listen that there is great value in earning a bachelor's degree. In the most recent statistics available the U. S. Census Bureau tends to agree.
Results from the 2004 Census Bureau report shows a $23,000 difference between the average annual salary of adults with a bachelor's degree ($51,554) compared to adults with a high school diploma ($28,645).
In what may or may not be an anomaly, the income gap narrowed slightly from five years earlier when bachelor's degree graduates made nearly twice as much as high school graduates.
The percentage of Americans 25 and older with a bachelor's degree rose to 28%, and the percentage with a high school diploma rose to 85%. In 1970, 36 years ago, only 11% of Americans had a bachelor's degree and a little more than half had a high school diploma.
It is probable that the increase over time has had much to do with the advent of technology in our society, and the impact of Internet accessibility to the general public in 1993 and 1994 through the creation of browsers.
If you are wondering, Minnesota, Utah, Montana, New Hampshire, Alaska and Washington had the highest proportions of adults with at least a high school diploma, all at about 92%. Texas had the lowest with about 78%.
Connecticut had the highest proportion of adults with a bachelor's degree (37%) and West Virginia had the lowest (15%).
I have long been a believer that there is no real correlation between education and income unless the degree leads to a high paying profession, such as a physician, attorney or dentist. I have known too many people with bachelor's degrees working at McDonald's restaurants.
My standard comment is that it is not like all people with bachelor's degrees make $100,000 a year and those with high school diplomas make $30,000. I also have known many people with only high school degrees and some high school dropouts who make well in excess of $100,000 annually, especially in sales.
Bill Gates is a college dropout who ranks as the richest man in the world. Forbes magazine rates William H. Gates III as the richest person in 2006 with $53 billion, proving perhaps that even Harvard dropouts can make a lot of money.
You, dear reader, will have to decide for yourself how big a difference in income is possible with a college degree instead of settling for a high school diploma. There is no question in my mind that the income gap will increase as the upper and lower edges of our middle class are falling away and the gap between the rich and poor in America widens.
I also have found little correlation between talent and income, intelligence and income and experience and income. Is there anyone in America who has not heard of the starving artist, or educated idiots in menial jobs, or janitors becoming millionaires?
The only real correlation I have noticed is between people skills and income. How else can you reasonably explain how a high school dropout becomes a self-made, multi-millionaire entrepreneur?
These successful entrepreneurs may not have perfect subject-verb agreement when they speak, but they certainly know how to relate to people in a meaningful way. You may have noticed that the whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going (ditto for women).
Also of note is the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey which shows that white-collar earnings average $21.85 an hour while blue-collar earnings average $15.03 and service occupations average $10.40.
Source information for the following statistics come from the Employment Policy Foundation.
The jobs that pay the most generally require at least a bachelor's degree (4 years of higher education) and several also require graduate (master's or doctorate) degrees. Here are the average annual incomes during 2003 for the nation's Top 12 Paying Jobs:
Top 12 Paying Jobs Overall
$147,000 - Physicians and Surgeons
$133,500 - Aircraft Pilots
$116,000 - Chief Executives
$112,000 - Electrical and Electronic Engineers
$99,800 - Lawyers and Judges
$90,000 - Dentists
$85,500 - Pharmacists
$84,700 - Management Analysts
$84,000 - Financial Analysts, Managers and Advisors
$83,000 - Computer and Information System Managers
$80,000 - Marketing and Sales Managers
$80,000 - Educational Administrators
Top Paying Jobs That Generally Require an Associate Degree or Certificates of Training
The jobs that pay the next best annual average salaries tend to be technical in nature and generally require an associate degree (2 years of higher education) and/or job-specific training certificates. Here are the average annual incomes during 2003 for the Top 6 Paying Jobs:
$66,000 - Healthcare Practitioners
$58,000 - Business Analysts
$57,000 - Electrical and Electronic Engineers
$56,800 - Mechanical Engineers
$54,000 - General and Operations Managers
$50,400 - Computer and Information System Managers
Top Paying Jobs That Generally Require a High School Diploma
These jobs generally require a high school diploma and emphasize work experience and on-the-job training rather than college degrees. Here are the average annual incomes during 2003 for the Top 6 Paying Jobs:
$58,900 - Computer Software Engineers
$56,400 - Computer and Information System Managers
$55,000 - Computer Programmers
$49,000 - Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts
$48,000 - General and Operations Managers
$48,000 - Database, Network and Computer Systems Administrators
Top Paying Jobs That Do Not Require a High School Diploma
These jobs tend to require substantial on-the-job training and work experience rather than formal education and specialized training. Here are the average annual incomes during 2003 for the Top 6 Paying Jobs:
$36,400 - Bailiffs, Correctional Officers and Jailers
$36,400 - Legal Assistants
$36,000 - Industrial Production Managers
$36,000 - Drafters
$33,600 - Construction Managers
$31,900 - Electricians
Sometimes the sources for these statistics are not really clear in the significance of their findings. You will notice that whatever the educational level, the positions for Computer and Information System Managers are mentioned.
It is the 9th highest paying job at $83,000 in highest educational level, shows up at $50,400 with a two-year degree and becomes the 2nd highest paying job at $56,400 for high school graduates.
The difference in salaries at different educational levels could have to do with the size of the company the worker serves. There is a difference in responsibility and technical requirements for a company generating $10 million in annual revenue as opposed to a company generating $100 million or $1 billion in annual revenue.
I believe it is also important to understand that many people with Top 12 paying jobs are self-employed professionals who are able to take many legitimate deductions in their business tax returns that workers do not enjoy.
Deductions lower their net taxable income. The earnings you see here can be much lower than their actual earnings because deductions can be "paper write-offs," deductions that result from depreciation, for example, that can amount to thousands of dollars credit with no out-of-pocket expenses.
It almost goes without saying that many savvy college and high school graduates also have part-time businesses that allow them legitimate deductions that lower the net taxable income from their jobs.