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Preview data: all rankings, scores, votes, refresh labels, methodology, testing and editorial-process statements in Top 49 are illustrative demo content, not live measurements or documented reviews.
Careers · refreshed quarterly
Top 49 Highest-Paying Careers
What the role actually costs to enter, weighed against what it pays
Pay figures below are indicative national medians rounded for readability, not a guarantee of what any individual will earn — actual compensation varies substantially by region, employer, experience and negotiation, and this ranking is informational rather than a promise about any specific outcome. What distinguishes this list from a simple salary sort is the entry cost: several of the highest-paying roles here require a decade or more of unpaid or low-paid training before the compensation shown is ever reached, which matters enormously to anyone actually deciding on a path. Growth outlook draws on publicly reported occupational projections and is shown as a general trend, not a personal forecast.
20Entries ranked
292KReader votes
1 Jul 2026Data as of
The top three
Leading the list
Rank 01Editor’s pick
Surgeon
Surgical medicine
Surgeons carry the longest and most expensive training path on this list — four years of medical school followed by five to seven years of residency before independent practice — and the pay reflects both that entry cost and the direct liability of the work.
96.8/100 Top 49 score—No changeRank 02Editor’s pick
Anesthesiologist
Anesthesiology
Anesthesiologists carry direct, moment-to-moment responsibility for a patient’s vital functions during surgery, and the licensing and residency requirements are correspondingly rigorous even by medical-specialty standards.
95.9/100 Top 49 score1Down 1Rank 03Editor’s pick
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Dental & oral surgery
This specialty requires both a dental degree and, frequently, additional medical training, a dual-credential path that is one of the more unusual and demanding combinations in healthcare.
93.6/100 Top 49 score4Up 4
Full ranking
All 20 ranked
Filter, re-sort or switch view — every combination is a shareable URL.
Showing 13–20 of 20 ranked entries.
- Rank 13. Corporate Lawyer. Score 80.8 out of 100.2Up 2
Corporate Lawyer
Law
Corporate law requires a juris doctor degree and bar admission, a roughly seven-year combined undergraduate-and-law-school path, with the highest-paying roles concentrated specifically at large firms in major financial centres.
- Median pay
- $145,000
- Typical education
- Law degree (J.D.) plus bar admission
- 10-yr growth
- 5%
80.8/100 Top 49 score - Rank 14. Petroleum Engineer. Score 80 out of 100.2Up 2
Petroleum Engineer
Energy engineering
Petroleum engineering pays among the highest of any bachelor’s-only engineering discipline, though compensation and hiring both move closely with oil and gas price cycles, a structural volatility other engineering fields on this list avoid.
- Median pay
- $145,000
- Typical education
- Bachelor’s degree
- 10-yr growth
- 2%
80.0/100 Top 49 score - Rank 15. Financial Manager. Score 77.9 out of 100.1Down 1
Financial Manager
Corporate finance
Financial managers oversee an organisation’s accounting and financial planning functions, a role that scales in both compensation and complexity with company size far more than most other occupations on this list.
- Median pay
- $139,000
- Typical education
- Bachelor’s degree
- 10-yr growth
- 16%
77.9/100 Top 49 score - Rank 16. Air Traffic Controller. Score 76.5 out of 100.1Up 1
Air Traffic Controller
Aviation operations
Air traffic controllers face one of the strictest age and training windows of any occupation on this list — hiring and full certification must generally happen well before mid-career, unlike most other roles here.
- Median pay
- $137,000
- Typical education
- Associate’s degree or FAA Academy training
- 10-yr growth
- 1%
76.5/100 Top 49 score - Rank 17. Pharmacist. Score 75.3 out of 100.3Up 3
Pharmacist
Pharmacy
Pharmacists require a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, but growth in the field has slowed as automation and mail-order pharmacy have changed staffing needs, a structural headwind despite the strong compensation base.
- Median pay
- $136,000
- Typical education
- Doctoral degree (PharmD)
- 10-yr growth
- 3%
75.3/100 Top 49 score - Rank 18. Judge and Magistrate. Score 74.2 out of 100.2Up 2
Judge and Magistrate
Judiciary
Judicial roles typically require years of practicing law before appointment or election, and the path into the role is structurally different from almost every other occupation here — it is earned through reputation and selection, not simply applied for.
- Median pay
- $128,000
- Typical education
- Law degree (J.D.) plus years of legal practice
- 10-yr growth
- 2%
74.2/100 Top 49 score - Rank 19. Actuary. Score 73.2 out of 100.—No change
Actuary
Risk & insurance analysis
Actuaries pass a lengthy series of professional examinations over several years while working, a self-paced credentialing structure that is genuinely unusual compared with the fixed-length degree programs most other roles on this list require.
- Median pay
- $120,000
- Typical education
- Bachelor’s degree plus professional actuarial exams
- 10-yr growth
- 22%
73.2/100 Top 49 score - Rank 20. Data Scientist. Score 71.3 out of 100.—No change
Data Scientist
Data & analytics
Data scientist as a distinct job title is barely over a decade old, and the field’s growth rate reflects both genuine new demand and the fact that the discipline is still actively defining its own boundaries relative to adjacent roles.
- Median pay
- $108,000
- Typical education
- Master’s degree (frequently, though not always required)
- 10-yr growth
- 35%
71.3/100 Top 49 scoreThe job title itself is barely over a decade old — the field is still actively defining its own boundaries relative to adjacent roles.
How this list is scored
Four criteria, weighted before the first entry
Pay figures are indicative national medians, rounded for readability, and vary substantially by region, employer and experience; they should not be read as a guarantee for any individual.
- Compensation 30%
- Indicative median total compensation relative to other occupations in this ranking.
- Job security 25%
- Demand stability and resistance to cyclical layoffs based on historical patterns.
- Entry barrier 25%
- Time, cost and credentialing burden required before reaching typical compensation.
- Growth outlook 20%
- Projected long-term demand trend based on publicly reported occupational data.
Questions
About this ranking
Are these exact salary figures I should expect to earn?
No. They are indicative, rounded national medians meant for comparison, not a promise. Actual pay varies significantly by region, employer, years of experience and negotiation, and this list cannot account for any of those individual factors.
Why do some lower-paid roles rank close to much higher-paid ones?
Compensation is only 30% of the score. A role with a punishing decade-long entry cost can rank similarly to a better-paid one with a faster, cheaper path in, because entry barrier and growth outlook both carry real weight.
Does a high ranking mean this is a good career choice for me?
That depends entirely on your own interests, aptitude and circumstances, none of which this ranking can evaluate. Treat it as a structural comparison of pay and entry cost, not personal career advice.
Where does the growth-outlook figure come from?
It reflects publicly reported long-term occupational demand projections, shown as a general trend for the field rather than a forecast for any individual’s job prospects.
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.