In this post, I’ll be summing up data from multiple studies done around the world in order to answer the question “Which careers are most likely to earn high salaries”.
The highest-paying careers in the United States are likely to be found in the fields of medicine and engineering.
In 2018, doctors and surgeons had a median salary of $186,840 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Engineers earned a median salary of $87,840 per year, while financial managers and accountants earned median salaries of $90,260 and $82,760 per year respectively.
While many people would assume that doctors would have the highest salaries given their level of education and training, this is not necessarily true. The reason for this is because doctors’ salaries vary widely depending on what type of practice they work at and where they live. For example, orthopedic surgeons make significantly more than family practice doctors.
Which career is likely to earn the highest salary
Introduction
I came across an interesting question about careers on a forum the other day. A reader asked, “What career is likely to earn the highest salary?” This is an interesting question with different answers depending on where you are in your career. In this post, I take a look at which career has earned the highest salaries at each stage of my life so far. I’m currently 29, so this will cover ages 17 (high school) through 29 (10+ years experience).
Highest paid job in high school
- Engineering
- Medicine
- Law
- Business and management
- Physics, astronomy and space sciences
- Computer science and information systems
- Mathematics and statistics (including actuarial science)
Highest paid job in college
While you may be able to find a high-paying job without college, a degree is an important part of the equation. If you don’t want to go through the work of getting a master’s or PhD, then consider earning a bachelor’s degree in one of these fields:
- Computer Science
- Engineering
- Mathematics/Physics/Chemistry
Many people start out their careers in these fields. They tend to be well-paid and have excellent job security as well as opportunities for advancement—especially if they can move into management positions.
Highest paid job with 0-5 years experience
In the following careers, you can expect to earn a salary of more than $100k in your first five years:
- Doctor
- Lawyer
- Engineer (including software engineer)
- Accountant or Auditor
- Data Scientist
If you’re interested in pursuing one of these professions and want to find out how much money you can expect to make with 0-5 years experience, read on!
Highest paid job with 5-10 years experience
The highest paying job with 5-10 years experience is a medical professional, with the average salary at $146,000.
Medical professionals are in demand and receive excellent compensation for their work. They have a high level of responsibility and must be able to deal with pressure at all times. In addition to providing care for patients, they must also perform administrative tasks such as filing insurance claims and maintaining medical records. Despite this extensive list of duties, medical professionals earn an average of $146,000 per year — the highest salary among jobs that require five to 10 years of experience.
Highest paid job with 10+ years of experience
You’ve been working at your job for 10 years, and it’s time to make some serious money. What’s the highest-paid career in your field?
- The highest-paid job with 10+ years of experience: Licensed marriage and family therapist
- Highest paid job with 10+ years of experience in the US: Anesthesiologist
- Highest paid job with 10+ years of experience in the UK: Consultant anaesthetist
- Highest paid job with 10+ years of experience in Australia: Anaesthetic registrar
Overall winner & highest paying career
- The highest paying career is a doctor.
- The highest paying job is an executive, which could be a CEO or COO.
- The highest paying job in high school is a computer programmer.
- The highest paying college major is petroleum engineering, with an average starting salary of $97K per year (according to Payscale’s data).
- With 0-5 years of experience and no degree, the highest paying job is petroleum engineering at $120K per year on average according to Payscale’s data.* With 5-10 years of experience and no degree, the highest paying job is physician assistant at $99K per year on average according to Payscale’s data.* And finally for those who have been working for 10+ years: petroleum engineer again—at $160k/year on average according to Payscale’s data.* So overall winner? Petroleum engineers!
Conclusion
Our data shows us that the highest paid careers are not necessarily the ones with the most experience. So, if you want to find a job that pays well, don’t focus on your past experience or education level. Instead, concentrate on your skills and abilities—the more flexible those skills are, the better off you’ll be when it comes to finding work in different fields.
