Top 10 Highest-Paying US Occupations by National Median Wage
WageDex ranks all 800+ US occupations by national median annual wage from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Compiled directly from the underlying BLS occupation and wage tables, not manually curated.
Research period:
Research question
Across 800+ US occupations in the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics dataset, which occupations have the highest national median annual wage, and how does the top of the distribution compare to the national median across all occupations?
Methodology
This ranking is compiled directly from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, no figure is typed in by hand, and the numbers update whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed. Occupations with no recorded wage data are excluded from this ranking rather than shown with a zero, since a true zero and "no data reported" are different facts.
Where BLS suppresses a value (for confidentiality, small sample size, or quality control), that record is left out of this ranking rather than displayed as zero. If BLS later revises a figure, the revision appears here automatically the next time WageDex refreshes its data, no manual edit to this page is needed.
A named editor reviews this page before publication, and disputed figures can be corrected through the contact channels in the footer, corrections are reconciled against the official source record before anything changes here.
See the methodology page for the complete data-update process, source vintage, and field definitions.
Top 10 Highest-Paying US Occupations by National Median Wage
Compiled directly from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
- Pediatric Surgeons
Pediatric Surgeons
$559,030 annual wage
- Cardiologists
Cardiologists
$496,010 annual wage
- Radiologists
Radiologists
$420,860 annual wage
- Surgeons, All Other
Surgeons, All Other
$414,010 annual wage
- Anesthesiologists
Anesthesiologists
$391,490 annual wage
- Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
$358,550 annual wage
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
$352,220 annual wage
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
Emergency Medicine Physicians
$335,550 annual wage
- Dermatologists
Dermatologists
$328,730 annual wage
- Physicians, Pathologists
Physicians, Pathologists
$312,400 annual wage
The ranked top 10
Every row below reflects the current 10-record ranking. Refresh the page after WageDex's next data update to see the latest values.
| # | Occupation | Major group | Median wage | 90th percentile | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pediatric Surgeons | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 559030 | 726660 | 1,190 |
| 2 | Cardiologists | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 496010 | 712130 | 17,290 |
| 3 | Radiologists | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 420860 | 594410 | 26,770 |
| 4 | Surgeons, All Other | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 414010 | 655320 | 25,140 |
| 5 | Anesthesiologists | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 391490 | 557130 | 38,760 |
| 6 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 358550 | 659290 | 14,100 |
| 7 | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 352220 | 622640 | 4,910 |
| 8 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 335550 | 495910 | 32,880 |
| 9 | Dermatologists | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 328730 | 578560 | 11,370 |
| 10 | Physicians, Pathologists | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 312400 | 449970 | 11,110 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Values reflect WageDex's current data snapshot and update whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Values reflect WageDex's current data snapshot and update whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed.
Findings
Top entity in the ranking
The top-ranked record in this dataset is Pediatric Surgeons, with a value of 559030 on the Median wage column. The full top-10 set is shown in the table above; no number here is typed in by hand. When U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a revision, the ranking and this text update automatically the next time WageDex refreshes its data.
Distribution shape
The gap between the top-ranked record (559030) and the 10th-ranked record (312400) characterizes how concentrated the top of the distribution is. Where the top value is many multiples of the median value of the visible set, the population is highly concentrated, a small number of entities accumulate the bulk of the measured quantity. Where the top and bottom of the visible set are close together, the distribution is relatively flat across the top end. The full distribution beyond this top-10 cut is summarized in the aggregate context section below and explored in the linked entity profiles.
Aggregate context
Across the full population behind this ranking, here are the summary statistics: how many records exist in total, the sum of the ranking metric across all qualifying records, and the mean per-record value. The methodology page documents the exact filter applied (records with null or zero values on the ranking metric are excluded). This aggregate row is computed from the same dataset that powers the ranking above.
Source provenance
The records in this ranking originate from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, specifically the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. WageDex compiles this data directly from the agency's published release; there is no static export carrying stale numbers, and an updated dataset propagates to this page within hours. The methodology page documents the source URL, the data vintage, and how the figures are derived.
Why this ranking matters
Rankings like this one let a reader scan a population quickly and identify outliers, concentrations, and patterns that warrant deeper investigation. The detail pages linked from each entity in the table above give the full per-entity context: time-series history where available, related metrics from adjacent tables, and links onward to the underlying source records. The methodology page explains how an entity earns inclusion in the dataset and how the ranking column is computed at the source.
What this analysis cannot tell us
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics is a semi-annual establishment-based survey that captures wages paid by employers to non-self-employed workers in covered industries. Self-employed workers, sole proprietors, partners, gig workers, and family workers without pay are not captured by the survey design. Wage estimates exclude tips, overtime premiums, and stock-based compensation, which materially understates wages in occupations where these forms are common. The BLS top-code at $239,200 (mean $115/hour) censors wage data for highly compensated occupations, actual median wages for physicians, dentists, surgeons, and executive officers exceed the reported top-codes. Employment counts cover the establishment sector only, which can produce counts below other federal sources for occupations heavy in self-employment.
Secondary cut from the same source
Top 10 occupations by national mean wage, contrast with median (top-end pull)
- Pediatric Surgeons
Pediatric Surgeons
$502,050 annual wage
- Cardiologists
Cardiologists
$454,940 annual wage
- Radiologists
Radiologists
$381,530 annual wage
- Surgeons, All Other
Surgeons, All Other
$373,930 annual wage
- Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
$373,570 annual wage
- Anesthesiologists
Anesthesiologists
$360,570 annual wage
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
$346,490 annual wage
- Dermatologists
Dermatologists
$323,530 annual wage
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
Emergency Medicine Physicians
$317,480 annual wage
- Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric
Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric
$304,650 annual wage
Sources
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Program - https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- BLS OEWS Survey Documentation and Methodology - https://www.bls.gov/oes/methods.htm
- BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System - https://www.bls.gov/soc/