Highest Paying Jobs in Washington

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

Highest Salary

$656,330

Cardiologists

Top 25 Average

$326,273

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Washington by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Cardiologists pays a state median of $656,330, +32% above the national median of $496,010 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Washington — a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $444,623, 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, 90 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Washington, 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 Washington 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 Washington, 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
1 Cardiologists $656,330
2 Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $553,310
3 Dermatologists $526,170
4 Anesthesiologists $499,990
5 Surgeons, All Other $479,460
6 Emergency Medicine Physicians $380,870
7 Obstetricians and Gynecologists $343,140
8 General Internal Medicine Physicians $340,010
9 Chief Executives $339,810
10 Neurologists $327,140
11 Physicians, All Other $307,170
12 Psychiatrists $304,920
13 Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric $304,830
14 Physicians, Pathologists $300,680
15 Family Medicine Physicians $292,900
16 Orthodontists $290,430
17 Nurse Anesthetists $274,390
18 Podiatrists $232,970
19 Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers $229,900
20 Computer and Information Systems Managers $209,370
21 Computer and Information Research Scientists $202,400
22 Compensation and Benefits Managers $199,190
23 Architectural and Engineering Managers $189,680
24 Medical Dosimetrists $189,280
25 Natural Sciences Managers $182,480
26 Financial Managers $174,840
27 Sales Managers $174,000
28 Marketing Managers $172,270
29 Dentists, General $169,730
30 Pediatricians, General $169,540
31 Computer Hardware Engineers $169,120
32 Computer Network Architects $168,070
33 Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary $166,590
34 Software Developers $166,540
35 Human Resources Managers $165,530
36 Physician Assistants $164,360
37 Managers, All Other $164,160
38 Advertising and Promotions Managers $163,380
39 Training and Development Managers $163,360
40 Data Scientists $163,350
41 Purchasing Managers $162,730
42 Air Traffic Controllers $162,570
43 Mathematicians $162,280
44 Commercial Divers $161,800
45 Pharmacists $160,610
46 Veterinarians $160,510
47 Public Relations Managers $159,440
48 Nurse Midwives $158,970
49 Aerospace Engineers $158,370
50 Optometrists $157,560
51 Nurse Practitioners $156,100
52 Construction Managers $155,070
53 Information Security Analysts $154,940
54 Lawyers $154,130
55 Sales Engineers $147,620
56 Political Scientists $147,060
57 Medical and Health Services Managers $145,290
58 Industrial Production Managers $145,210
59 Power Distributors and Dispatchers $144,710
60 Facilities Managers $139,990
61 Materials Engineers $139,840
62 Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary $137,520
63 Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers $137,180
64 Fundraising Managers $137,010
65 Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers $136,500
66 First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives $136,280
67 Petroleum Engineers $134,800
68 Physicists $134,790
69 Actuaries $134,720
70 Engineers, All Other $134,570
71 Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates $134,270
72 Physical Scientists, All Other $133,980
73 General and Operations Managers $133,750
74 Special Effects Artists and Animators $133,480
75 Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers $133,060
76 Electrical Engineers $132,710
77 Power Plant Operators $131,620
78 Dental Hygienists $131,160
79 Emergency Management Directors $130,780
80 Administrative Services Managers $130,630
81 Web and Digital Interface Designers $130,480
82 Web Developers $130,440
83 Electronics Engineers, Except Computer $130,270
84 Nuclear Engineers $129,480
85 Computer Systems Analysts $129,410
86 First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers $129,350
87 Industrial Engineers $129,050
88 Computer Occupations, All Other $128,940
89 Database Architects $128,760
90 Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers $128,480
91 Chemical Engineers $128,290
92 Psychologists, All Other $128,230
93 Education Administrators, Postsecondary $127,630
94 Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products $127,390
95 Materials Scientists $127,250
96 Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors $126,590
97 Nuclear Medicine Technologists $126,200
98 Lighting Technicians $126,100
99 Radiation Therapists $125,880
100 Computer Programmers $125,620

Nearby & Related Pages

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

Washington Overview

Full state salary data

Fastest Growing in Washington

Top 50 by growth rate

National Rankings

Highest paying jobs nationwide

Cardiologists

National profile & state breakdown

All 50 States

Compare across states
Compare Cardiologists side-by-side with another occupation →

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 Washington. The "Difference" column shows how Washington pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Last updated: May 2025. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Rankings by median annual salary in Washington.

National benchmark comparisons computed against BLS OEWS National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2025.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.