But these professions require time, money and effort to break into
The advent of artificial intelligence and automation may be creating a demand for highly technical roles in the IT sector. But in the US, anaesthesiologists and surgeons remain the highest paid professionals, according to a new job market study.
US News & World Report compiled a list of the best paying jobs of 2020 based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jobs in health care dominated the top 10. The results come as no surprise, however, given how students often have to spend more to attain higher-quality education and break into the field.
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In fact, the Class of 2019 reportedly spent about US$250,000 to $330,180 to attend four years of medical school, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
However, those who go on to graduate with a medical degree are also more likely to become part of the top 1% of earners, a study from the Brookings Institution showed.
Fourteen of the 25 highest-paying jobs on the list also require workers to have a doctorate degree and almost all of them belong in the medical industry.
The only exception are lawyers, who are considered part of the social services industry by US News. These professionals earn a mean salary of $144,230 a year.
Meanwhile, only nine of the highest-earning jobs require workers to have a bachelor’s degree:
- Anaesthesiologist – mean salary: $267,020 per year
- Surgeon – $255,110 per year
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeon – $242,370 per year
- Obstetrician and gynaecologist – $238,320 per year
- Orthodontist – $225,760 per year
- Psychiatrist – $220,380 per year
- Physician – $196,490 per year
- Prosthodontist – $191,400 per year
- Paediatrician – $183,240 per year
- Dentist – $175,840 per year
- Nurse anaesthetist – $174,790 per year
- Petroleum engineer – $156,370 per year
- IT manager – $152,860 per year
- Podiatrist – $148,220 per year
- Marketing manager – $147,240 per year
- Financial manager – $146,830 per year
- Pilot – $146,660 per year
- Lawyer – $144,230 per year
- Sales manager – $140,320 per year
- Business operations manager – $123,880 per year
- Pharmacist – $123,670 per year
- Financial advisor – $121,770 per year
- Optometrist – $119,980 per year
- Actuary – $116,250 per year
- Political scientist – $115,300 per year