Highest Paying Jobs in Alabama

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$519,480

Cardiologists

Top 25 Average

$216,350

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Alabama by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Cardiologists pays a state median of $519,480, +5% above the national median of $496,010 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 83 pay above $100,000 per year in Alabama - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $319,348, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 35 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Alabama, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news, they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where Alabama is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in Alabama, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Cardiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$519,480	$496,010	+5% above	130
2	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$394,550	$328,730	+20% above	N/A
3	Anesthesiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$392,350	$391,490	same as	N/A
4	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$324,570	$358,550	9% below	380
5	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$311,180	$256,560	+21% above	310
6	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$305,200	$300,080	+2% above	N/A
7	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$272,610	$265,930	+3% above	3,980
8	Orthodontists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$253,670	$289,140	12% below	N/A
9	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$210,380	$292,910	28% below	120
10	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$209,490	$210,040	same as	N/A
11	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$190,300	$236,590	20% below	1,810
12	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$166,420	$213,990	22% below	810
13	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$162,350	$171,270	5% below	3,790
14	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$161,820	$160,300	+1% above	90
15	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$152,550	$122,930	+24% above	3,460
16	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$145,090	$136,570	+6% above	460
17	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$140,500	$166,570	16% below	7,200
18	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$139,330	$172,250	19% below	280
19	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$138,670	$175,140	21% below	7,670
20	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$136,990	$161,740	15% below	680
21	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$136,990	$232,140	41% below	360
22	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$136,950	$130,000	+5% above	190
23	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$136,070	$110,840	+23% above	110
24	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$135,890	$141,900	4% below	1,970
25	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$135,350	$122,570	+10% above	140
26	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$135,340	$128,500	+5% above	40
27	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$135,030	$125,040	+8% above	600
28	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Legal Occupations	$134,810	$117,860	+14% above	70
29	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,630	$140,910	4% below	5,400
30	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,550	$244,180	45% below	N/A
31	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$133,470	$167,220	20% below	370
32	Nuclear Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$132,570	$133,970	1% below	290
33	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$131,970	$159,670	17% below	6,730
34	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$130,810	$134,050	2% below	4,200
35	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$130,710	$148,080	12% below	1,520
36	Economists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$129,960	$124,720	+4% above	40
37	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$128,750	$133,000	3% below	150
38	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$127,540	$134,960	5% below	5,820
39	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$125,630	$120,630	+4% above	4,600
40	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$124,040	$148,270	16% below	4,670
41	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$122,730	$129,180	5% below	4,010
42	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$122,540	$135,980	10% below	17,450
43	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$122,520	$126,060	3% below	3,620
44	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$121,010	$106,660	+13% above	940
45	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$120,720	$130,220	7% below	1,940
46	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$120,160	$166,790	28% below	1,540
47	Nuclear Power Reactor Operators Production Occupations	$119,000	$122,890	3% below	360
48	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$118,470	$149,230	21% below	90
49	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$118,320	$107,230	+10% above	1,250
50	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$117,870	$140,300	16% below	570
51	Operations Research Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$115,630	$88,940	+30% above	550
52	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$114,960	$148,080	22% below	240
53	Power Distributors and Dispatchers Production Occupations	$114,570	$106,730	+7% above	190
54	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$114,550	$114,130	same as	860
55	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$113,210	$149,280	24% below	2,160
56	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$111,790	$105,770	+6% above	30,170
57	Life Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$110,560	$93,750	+18% above	50
58	Nuclear Technicians Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$110,240	$110,240	same as	280
59	Transportation Inspectors Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$108,140	$92,100	+17% above	670
60	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$108,040	$101,860	+6% above	4,900
61	Materials Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$107,580	$112,860	5% below	650
62	Power Plant Operators Production Occupations	$107,080	$102,040	+5% above	790
63	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$106,330	$116,580	9% below	2,630
64	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$105,750	$132,300	20% below	5,640
65	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$105,630	$130,100	19% below	1,020
66	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$105,490	$115,160	8% below	570
67	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,450	$139,500	24% below	270
68	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$104,960	$135,880	23% below	930
69	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$104,410	$124,900	16% below	220
70	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$103,700	$109,910	6% below	170
71	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$103,580	$109,270	5% below	650
72	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$103,120	$120,230	14% below	1,740
73	Environmental Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$102,650	$107,110	4% below	780
74	Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$102,530	$106,220	3% below	90
75	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$101,770	$105,850	4% below	6,560
76	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$101,500	$104,300	3% below	1,760
77	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$101,420	$123,220	18% below	780
78	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$101,250	$123,920	18% below	90
79	Landscape Architects Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,220	$79,870	+27% above	230
80	Project Management Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$100,820	$102,320	1% below	3,190
81	Business Operations Specialists, All Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$100,240	$83,050	+21% above	6,990
82	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$100,230	$104,110	4% below	N/A
83	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$100,030	$104,590	4% below	3,760
84	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$99,880	$102,440	2% below	7,650
85	Budget Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$99,490	$91,640	+9% above	870
86	Civil Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$99,010	$100,840	2% below	5,370
87	Logisticians Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$98,450	$82,320	+20% above	5,190
88	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$98,210	$146,910	33% below	540
89	Chemists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$97,830	$91,240	+7% above	700
90	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$97,790	$123,860	21% below	10,360
91	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$97,480	$105,870	8% below	3,020
92	Food Scientists and Technologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$97,480	$88,720	+10% above	60
93	Physical Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$97,290	$102,760	5% below	3,040
94	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$96,960	$114,990	16% below	8,560
95	Media and Communication Equipment Workers, All Other Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$96,100	$70,720	+36% above	40
96	Ship Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$96,030	$109,530	12% below	50
97	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$95,990	$99,280	3% below	990
98	Avionics Technicians Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$95,920	$82,280	+17% above	910
99	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents Management Occupations	$95,740	$96,660	1% below	280
100	Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$95,370	$101,110	6% below	320

More ways to explore Alabama pay and compare with national data.

Alabama Overview

Full state salary data

Fastest Growing in Alabama

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Cardiologists

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in Alabama. The "Difference" column shows how Alabama pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Every figure on WageDex is rendered directly from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, no number is typed in by an editor. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

Compiled by WageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

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