Highest Paying Occupations in America

This morning, I saw a brief piece on CNN HN about the five highest paying occupations in the US. First was anesthesiologist followed by surgeon. The rest were also healthcare-related.

Having my curiosity piqued, I Googled "highest paying occupations", and checked a number of the links only to find these lists vary considerably. They do have one thing in common. Healthcare occupations dominate the top of each list.

According to CareerInfoNet, anesthesiologist is first, followed by internist, then OB-GYN, oral/maxillofacial surgeons, and orthodontists.

Careerbuilder.com lists physicians/surgeons, aircraft pilots, chief executives,electrical and electronic engineers, and lawyers/judges as the top five.

Family/general practitioners, podiatrists, lawyers, dentists, and OB-GYN are at the top of work-info.com's list.

Physicians occupy first place at bizjournals. Second is airplane pilots/navigators, then lawyers. Optometrists and college medical science teachers round out the top five.

Most of these lists provide annual income and other data.

MSN Money published a list of the 25 best- and worst-paying jobs in America. Health-related professions dominated the top end of this list with 13 of 15 top spots. Chief executive and airline pilot are the only non-health careers in the top fifteen.

"Why do financially pushy parents want their children to marry doctors? Because, as Willie Sutton said of banks, that is where the money is."

By the way, the worst-paying job in America is fast-food cook.