Highest Paying Jobs in Arizona

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

Highest Salary

$558,970

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric

Top 25 Average

$269,906

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Arizona by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric pays a state median of $558,970, +56% above the national median of $358,550 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Arizona - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $376,359, 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, 49 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Arizona, 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 Arizona 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 Arizona, 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	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$558,970	$358,550	+56% above	110
2	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$470,640	$420,860	+12% above	N/A
3	Surgeons, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$415,980	$414,010	same as	N/A
4	Neurologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$409,610	$248,560	+65% above	80
5	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$369,720	$292,910	+26% above	130
6	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$338,290	$312,400	+8% above	270
7	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$322,800	$352,220	8% below	N/A
8	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$312,490	$265,930	+18% above	6,800
9	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$292,760	$244,180	+20% above	2,620
10	Orthodontists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$272,330	$289,140	6% below	120
11	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$259,320	$256,560	+1% above	2,570
12	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$249,720	$281,870	11% below	380
13	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$248,660	$236,590	+5% above	310
14	Dentists, All Other Specialists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$244,170	$224,990	+9% above	190
15	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$233,950	$210,040	+11% above	1,230
16	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$233,270	$328,730	29% below	N/A
17	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$227,870	$232,140	2% below	2,200
18	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$194,180	$170,950	+14% above	3,470
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$167,480	$171,270	2% below	4,680
20	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$166,430	$175,140	5% below	14,270
21	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$158,280	$161,740	2% below	3,110
22	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$156,100	$139,500	+12% above	1,200
23	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$152,020	$130,100	+17% above	2,080
24	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$146,930	$140,910	+4% above	6,900
25	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$145,690	$148,270	2% below	13,870
26	Medical Dosimetrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$142,090	$147,470	4% below	40
27	Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$141,230	$109,370	+29% above	610
28	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$140,960	$134,040	+5% above	80
29	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$139,830	$166,570	16% below	14,900
30	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$139,820	$149,280	6% below	3,950
31	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$138,940	$148,080	6% below	1,630
32	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$137,510	$110,840	+24% above	240
33	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$137,250	$123,920	+11% above	100
34	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$136,800	$148,080	8% below	380
35	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$135,870	$130,000	+5% above	200
36	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,650	$135,880	1% below	3,750
37	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,420	$132,300	+2% above	7,220
38	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$134,260	$159,670	16% below	11,640
39	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$133,190	$160,300	17% below	270
40	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$132,220	$166,790	21% below	4,870
41	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$131,950	$128,500	+3% above	60
42	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$131,870	$124,900	+6% above	1,000
43	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$130,890	$134,050	2% below	3,990
44	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$130,500	$172,250	24% below	120
45	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$129,890	$149,230	13% below	510
46	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$129,870	$141,900	8% below	8,540
47	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$129,760	$140,300	8% below	360
48	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$129,690	$135,980	5% below	38,050
49	Astronomers Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$129,020	$128,820	same as	100
50	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$128,850	$123,860	+4% above	11,840
51	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$125,770	$133,000	5% below	1,190
52	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$125,270	$122,570	+2% above	170
53	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$125,260	$129,180	3% below	3,420
54	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$124,920	$167,220	25% below	900
55	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$124,810	$126,060	1% below	3,630
56	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Legal Occupations	$123,240	$117,860	+5% above	300
57	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$123,170	$134,960	9% below	3,110
58	Life Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$122,580	$93,750	+31% above	N/A
59	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$122,250	$136,570	10% below	1,080
60	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$119,010	$100,580	+18% above	730
61	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$118,120	$130,220	9% below	2,100
62	Education Administrators, All Other Management Occupations	$117,170	$95,200	+23% above	430
63	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$116,820	$103,410	+13% above	2,190
64	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$116,470	$125,470	7% below	530
65	Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$115,730	$101,420	+14% above	60
66	Atmospheric and Space Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$115,020	$99,070	+16% above	80
67	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$114,680	$114,990	same as	9,910
68	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$114,400	$146,910	22% below	1,170
69	Surgical Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$111,170	$66,800	+66% above	N/A
70	Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$110,600	$103,170	+7% above	240
71	Models Sales and Related Occupations	$109,910	$48,470	+127% above	N/A
72	Political Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$108,770	$142,080	23% below	50
73	Radiation Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$108,760	$105,310	+3% above	410
74	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$108,540	$109,270	1% below	370
75	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$108,280	$102,440	+6% above	7,520
76	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$107,240	$120,230	11% below	4,560
77	Materials Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$106,810	$112,860	5% below	580
78	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$106,370	$115,160	8% below	180
79	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,240	$116,580	10% below	5,510
80	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Protective Service Occupations	$104,850	$106,040	1% below	2,790
81	Gas Plant Operators Production Occupations	$104,600	$87,820	+19% above	140
82	Database Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$104,280	$104,620	same as	1,120
83	Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$103,790	$93,250	+11% above	210
84	Occupational Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$103,660	$100,330	+3% above	2,680
85	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$103,530	$105,850	2% below	11,330
86	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$103,280	$104,590	1% below	5,140
87	Physical Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$103,220	$102,760	same as	5,170
88	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$103,060	$123,220	16% below	1,540
89	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$102,800	$117,330	12% below	1,700
90	Genetic Counselors Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$102,730	$100,040	+3% above	50
91	Urban and Regional Planners Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$102,400	$89,320	+15% above	1,330
92	Detectives and Criminal Investigators Protective Service Occupations	$102,340	$93,790	+9% above	5,250
93	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$102,280	$122,930	17% below	1,720
94	Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$102,130	$106,220	4% below	690
95	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$102,000	$99,280	+3% above	1,550
96	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$101,160	$114,130	11% below	6,750
97	Dental Hygienists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$101,010	$98,100	+3% above	4,530
98	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$100,650	$104,300	3% below	3,890
99	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$100,620	$104,920	4% below	8,860
100	Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$100,600	$95,480	+5% above	730

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Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric

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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 Arizona. The "Difference" column shows how Arizona 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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