Highest Paying Jobs in Massachusetts

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

Highest Salary

$426,560

Radiologists

Top 25 Average

$256,044

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Massachusetts by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Radiologists pays a state median of $426,560, +1% above the national median of $420,860 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Massachusetts - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $330,321, 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, 91 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Massachusetts, 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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts, 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	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$426,560	$420,860	+1% above	N/A
2	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$392,300	$358,550	+9% above	N/A
3	Surgeons, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$387,150	$414,010	6% below	770
4	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$356,230	$335,550	+6% above	890
5	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$325,200	$300,080	+8% above	450
6	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$295,550	$236,590	+25% above	500
7	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$285,250	$256,560	+11% above	1,590
8	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$285,240	$312,400	9% below	320
9	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$277,490	$244,180	+14% above	3,540
10	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$272,240	$292,910	7% below	620
11	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$267,290	$167,220	+60% above	10,590
12	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$236,580	$265,930	11% below	8,210
13	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Legal Occupations	$221,710	$153,990	+44% above	610
14	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$221,170	$210,040	+5% above	2,310
15	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$217,700	$160,300	+36% above	170
16	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$214,960	$175,140	+23% above	24,910
17	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$212,020	$166,790	+27% above	14,270
18	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$206,760	$166,570	+24% above	26,150
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$201,430	$171,270	+18% above	7,690
20	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$191,200	$148,270	+29% above	15,010
21	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$184,070	$149,230	+23% above	670
22	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$182,950	$141,900	+29% above	10,630
23	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$181,780	$149,280	+22% above	7,540
24	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$181,600	$170,950	+6% above	2,780
25	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$176,680	$159,670	+11% above	23,560
26	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$171,740	$146,910	+17% above	2,170
27	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$170,750	$148,080	+15% above	2,160
28	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$170,510	$140,300	+22% above	1,760
29	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$167,600	$161,740	+4% above	3,150
30	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$165,210	$135,980	+21% above	48,190
31	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$164,410	$123,920	+33% above	750
32	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$163,090	$133,660	+22% above	300
33	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$161,650	$139,500	+16% above	2,690
34	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$159,800	$134,040	+19% above	280
35	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$155,060	$134,050	+16% above	6,270
36	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$151,740	$125,470	+21% above	2,260
37	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$151,730	$136,570	+11% above	950
38	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$149,470	$134,960	+11% above	990
39	Art Directors Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$149,320	$114,850	+30% above	1,850
40	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$148,050	$126,060	+17% above	4,470
41	Nuclear Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$145,760	$133,970	+9% above	210
42	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$145,010	$114,990	+26% above	9,870
43	Judicial Law Clerks Legal Occupations	$143,350	$64,920	+121% above	500
44	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$142,440	$132,300	+8% above	8,070
45	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$142,410	$135,880	+5% above	4,470
46	Medical Dosimetrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$140,990	$147,470	4% below	60
47	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$140,260	$130,100	+8% above	1,920
48	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$138,420	$109,910	+26% above	N/A
49	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$138,380	$122,570	+13% above	350
50	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$138,230	$130,220	+6% above	5,910
51	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$138,170	$140,910	2% below	7,230
52	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$136,550	$129,180	+6% above	6,100
53	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$136,200	$124,900	+9% above	3,150
54	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$134,850	$109,270	+23% above	2,610
55	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$134,720	$101,860	+32% above	30,060
56	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$134,520	$107,310	+25% above	10,250
57	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$134,360	$123,860	+8% above	17,600
58	Political Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$133,930	$142,080	6% below	170
59	Materials Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$132,600	$117,790	+13% above	890
60	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$132,010	$128,500	+3% above	840
61	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$131,750	$120,230	+10% above	9,420
62	Biochemists and Biophysicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$131,600	$127,410	+3% above	14,890
63	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$131,260	$122,930	+7% above	2,850
64	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$131,210	$115,160	+14% above	750
65	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$130,400	$117,330	+11% above	1,440
66	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$129,410	$110,840	+17% above	500
67	Database Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$129,300	$104,620	+24% above	2,310
68	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$128,970	$104,590	+23% above	9,120
69	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$128,430	$105,870	+21% above	10,570
70	Computer Programmers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$128,390	$100,390	+28% above	1,930
71	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$128,240	$105,850	+21% above	22,160
72	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$128,210	$103,410	+24% above	17,100
73	Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$128,150	$98,070	+31% above	920
74	Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$128,030	$96,980	+32% above	1,490
75	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$127,720	$120,630	+6% above	5,040
76	Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$127,570	$109,370	+17% above	4,740
77	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$127,220	$105,770	+20% above	95,880
78	Signal and Track Switch Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$126,440	$92,460	+37% above	160
79	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$126,040	$130,000	3% below	N/A
80	Personal Financial Advisors Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$125,670	$105,070	+20% above	N/A
81	Life Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$125,260	$93,750	+34% above	100
82	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$125,060	$148,080	16% below	120
83	Chemists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$125,000	$91,240	+37% above	3,430
84	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$124,100	$106,660	+16% above	6,070
85	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$123,830	$107,230	+15% above	4,310
86	Emergency Management Directors Management Occupations	$123,250	$93,330	+32% above	220
87	Ship Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$122,720	$109,530	+12% above	150
88	Microbiologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$122,350	$87,990	+39% above	1,960
89	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$122,210	$104,300	+17% above	6,640
90	Historians Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$121,710	$76,750	+59% above	N/A
91	Anthropologists and Archeologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$121,300	$70,770	+71% above	80
92	Power Distributors and Dispatchers Production Occupations	$121,010	$106,730	+13% above	390
93	Pile Driver Operators Construction and Extraction Occupations	$120,980	$73,300	+65% above	130
94	Structural Iron and Steel Workers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$120,840	$62,780	+92% above	2,050
95	Plant and System Operators, All Other Production Occupations	$120,660	$62,470	+93% above	40
96	Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$119,460	$103,020	+16% above	430
97	Hydrologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$119,350	$96,600	+24% above	50
98	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$119,300	$104,110	+15% above	7,680
99	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$118,980	$104,920	+13% above	11,650
100	Nuclear Medicine Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$118,250	$101,370	+17% above	380

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

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Radiologists

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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 Massachusetts. The "Difference" column shows how Massachusetts 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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