Highest Paying Jobs in North Dakota

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

Highest Salary

$604,890

Surgeons, All Other

Top 25 Average

$234,278

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in North Dakota by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Surgeons, All Other pays a state median of $604,890, +46% above the national median of $414,010 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 66 pay above $100,000 per year in North Dakota - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $373,788, 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, 42 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in North Dakota, 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota, 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	Surgeons, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$604,890	$414,010	+46% above	150
2	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$553,140	$420,860	+31% above	120
3	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$454,550	$265,930	+71% above	740
4	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$414,060	$292,910	+41% above	70
5	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$392,890	$335,550	+17% above	150
6	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$338,400	$256,560	+32% above	200
7	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$280,100	$244,180	+15% above	260
8	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$244,240	$236,590	+3% above	250
9	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$234,950	$210,040	+12% above	90
10	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$220,660	$170,950	+29% above	260
11	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Legal Occupations	$171,100	$153,990	+11% above	130
12	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$164,560	$213,990	23% below	380
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$149,130	$175,140	15% below	850
14	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$147,650	$122,570	+20% above	70
15	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$147,400	$171,270	14% below	270
16	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$142,040	$140,910	+1% above	1,070
17	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$139,050	$149,280	7% below	290
18	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$135,890	$166,570	18% below	2,140
19	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$133,450	$135,880	2% below	510
20	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$133,010	$123,220	+8% above	370
21	Petroleum Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$132,120	$144,910	9% below	130
22	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$132,110	$136,570	3% below	140
23	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$131,370	$167,220	21% below	140
24	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$130,110	$148,080	12% below	50
25	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$130,070	$132,300	2% below	1,290
26	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$126,440	$141,900	11% below	2,040
27	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$125,580	$166,790	25% below	180
28	Power Plant Operators Production Occupations	$122,160	$102,040	+20% above	150
29	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$121,750	$125,470	3% below	30
30	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$119,990	$148,270	19% below	550
31	Audiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$118,750	$95,780	+24% above	40
32	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$116,130	$100,580	+15% above	170
33	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$116,050	$126,060	8% below	490
34	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$115,400	$125,040	8% below	80
35	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$114,110	$146,910	22% below	130
36	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$114,020	$133,000	14% below	50
37	Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$111,020	$93,250	+19% above	60
38	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$110,810	$120,630	8% below	260
39	Business Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$110,050	$99,080	+11% above	250
40	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$109,710	$109,270	same as	220
41	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$109,430	$139,500	22% below	60
42	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$108,990	$134,050	19% below	230
43	Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$108,130	$98,700	+10% above	90
44	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$107,990	$148,080	27% below	100
45	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$107,940	$105,870	+2% above	810
46	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$107,540	$129,180	17% below	310
47	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$106,880	$159,670	33% below	1,050
48	Transportation Inspectors Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$106,330	$92,100	+15% above	60
49	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$105,870	$95,320	+11% above	740
50	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,600	$135,980	22% below	1,450
51	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,470	$105,850	same as	280
52	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$105,170	$123,860	15% below	1,220
53	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$104,860	$130,220	19% below	50
54	Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$103,580	$74,340	+39% above	270
55	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$102,720	$104,920	2% below	510
56	Nuclear Medicine Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$102,640	$101,370	+1% above	50
57	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$102,180	$130,100	21% below	270
58	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$102,070	$114,990	11% below	1,450
59	Education Administrators, All Other Management Occupations	$101,870	$95,200	+7% above	190
60	Physics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$101,700	$100,310	+1% above	40
61	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$101,600	$104,590	3% below	600
62	Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$101,240	$115,210	12% below	140
63	Labor Relations Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$101,220	$95,420	+6% above	90
64	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$100,760	$107,310	6% below	510
65	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$100,720	$107,230	6% below	390
66	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$100,250	$122,930	18% below	220
67	Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$98,700	$74,090	+33% above	520
68	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Protective Service Occupations	$98,300	$106,040	7% below	440
69	Civil Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$98,190	$100,840	3% below	1,380
70	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$98,170	$105,770	7% below	11,150
71	Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$98,000	$103,170	5% below	60
72	Chemists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$97,330	$91,240	+7% above	160
73	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$97,110	$99,280	2% below	290
74	Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$97,110	$80,340	+21% above	60
75	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$96,940	$102,440	5% below	600
76	Gas Plant Operators Production Occupations	$96,760	$87,820	+10% above	770
77	Project Management Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$96,160	$102,320	6% below	2,020
78	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$94,320	$114,130	17% below	300
79	Occupational Health and Safety Specialists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$93,250	$90,150	+3% above	540
80	Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers Production Occupations	$93,130	$96,710	4% below	950
81	Computer Programmers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$92,280	$100,390	8% below	190
82	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$92,040	$106,660	14% below	270
83	Atmospheric and Space Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$91,560	$99,070	8% below	40
84	Environmental Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$91,370	$107,110	15% below	90
85	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents Management Occupations	$91,040	$96,660	6% below	90
86	Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$90,890	$63,890	+42% above	470
87	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$90,740	$84,620	+7% above	170
88	First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$90,600	$79,860	+13% above	1,920
89	Dental Hygienists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$90,530	$98,100	8% below	660
90	Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Construction and Extraction Occupations	$90,380	$57,430	+57% above	220
91	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$90,220	$101,860	11% below	N/A
92	Social and Community Service Managers Management Occupations	$86,630	$80,390	+8% above	510
93	Network and Computer Systems Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$86,450	$99,130	13% below	930
94	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$86,330	$104,110	17% below	790
95	Judicial Law Clerks Legal Occupations	$85,530	$64,920	+32% above	40
96	Physical Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$85,330	$102,760	17% below	830
97	Loan Officers Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$84,650	$76,690	+10% above	1,370
98	Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$84,570	$82,220	+3% above	240
99	Diagnostic Medical Sonographers Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$84,340	$96,590	13% below	240
100	Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$84,070	$101,920	18% below	100

More ways to explore North Dakota pay and compare with national data.

North Dakota Overview

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Surgeons, All Other

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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 North Dakota. The "Difference" column shows how North Dakota 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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