- Using data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, we found the highest-paying occupation in every state (plus Washington, DC).
- Doctors and surgeons top the ranking in almost every state.
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Doctors make a lot of money across the United States.
Using data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics program, we found the job in each state with the highest average annual salary as of May 2018, the latest available data. For our calculations, we considered jobs employing at least 1,000 people in the state for which the BLS reported annual mean salaries.
Read more: 50 maps that explain how America lives, spends, and believes
Medical jobs are extremely common among well-compensated occupations. Various types of doctors were the highest-paying occupation in 42 states.
Because so many of these jobs were the highest paying in multiple states, we’ve arranged the list in order of the 11 jobs that appear on the above map. We’ve also included a list of the states for which that job is the highest paying, along with the job’s average annual salary in those states:
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers
Tim Boyle/Getty ImagesAlaska: $US148,820
Anesthesiologists
Getty Images/Carsten KoallWhat they do, according to O*NET: Physicians who administer anesthetics prior to, during, or after surgery or other medical procedures.
California: $US288,420
Florida: $US280,390
New York: $US255,500
Ohio: $US285,000
Texas: $US260,690
Chief executives
GettyAlabama: $US204,590
District of Columbia: $US247,500
Virginia: $US228,540
Family and general practitioners
Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesWhat they do, according to O*NET: Physicians who diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases and injuries that commonly occur in the general population.
Arkansas: $US228,620
Colorado: $US220,960
Iowa: $US246,670
Maryland: $US199,300
Nebraska: $US237,320
North Carolina: $US221,220
Oklahoma: $US225,140
Oregon: $US226,030
South Carolina: $US235,790
Financial managers
What they do, according to O*NET: Plan, direct, or coordinate financial activities.
North Dakota: $US123,890
Vermont: $US113,610
General and operations managers
ShutterstockWhat they do, according to O*NET: Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of public or private organisations.
South Dakota: $US125,490
Wyoming: $US105,920
General internists
Rick Bowmer/AP ImagesWhat they do, according to O*NET: Physicians who diagnose and provide non-surgical treatment of diseases and injuries of internal organ systems.
Massachusetts: $US246,240
Minnesota: $US251,310
Pharmacists
Idaho: $US121,940
Physicians and surgeons, all other
This occupational category is a catchall for various medical specialisations that are not classified under any other group. According to the Labour Department’s O*NET occupational database, some of the specialisations in this category include allergists and immunologists, radiologists, hospitalists, and sports medicine physicians, among others.
Arizona: $US229,090
Connecticut: $US221,870
Delaware: $US216,600
Georgia: $US235,060
Hawaii: $US228,470
Indiana: $US237,470
Kansas: $US191,430
Kentucky: $US223,770
Louisiana: $US183,920
Maine: $US257,550
Mississippi: $US174,340
Montana: $US247,260
Nevada: $US227,500
New Hampshire: $US275,840
New Mexico: $US229,100
Rhode Island: $US209,580
Tennessee: $US231,960
Utah: $US218,210
Washington: $US239,080
West Virginia: $US222,270
Wisconsin: $US239,610
Psychiatrists
Elise Amendola/AP ImagesPennsylvania: $US232,990
Surgeons
Illinois: $US243,350
Michigan: $US244,710
Missouri: $US248,250
New Jersey: $US285,850
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