What Are The Top 10 Paying Jobs?

By Debbie Gregory.

Would it surprise you to learn that attorneys are only in 10^th place when it comes to the highest paying jobs in the U.S.?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, based on median annual salaries, the top paying jobs are in the medical field.

After attorneys come the friendly skies. In 9th place, you will find airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers, and 8^th place is claimed by air traffic controllers.

While most pilots fly commercially transporting passengers and cargo, 34 percent of pilots work in other areas, including crop dusting, seed distribution, testing aircraft, firefighting and rescuing and evacuating injured persons. Air traffic controllers coordinate the movement of air traffic to make certain that planes stay a safe distance apart. Their immediate concern is safety, but controllers also must direct planes efficiently to minimize delays. Some regulate airport traffic through designated airspaces; others regulate airport arrivals and departures.

Next come those on the information super-highway, in 7^th place, computer and information systems managers, who implement, plan, coordinate, and direct research on the computer-related activities of their companies.

Most people are familiar with the already mentioned careers, but coming in at number six is one I wasn’t familiar with…natural sciences manager. Those in this position direct research and development projects and oversee the work of life and physical scientists, including agricultural scientists, chemists, biologists, geologists, medical scientists, and physicists.

In 5^th place are podiatrists, who work from under the knee to the tip of the toes. Podiatrists treat corns, calluses, ingrown toenails, bunions, heel spurs, and arch problems; ankle and foot injuries, deformities, and infections; and foot complaints associated with diabetes and other diseases.

Engineering managers come in fourth, and work with engineers who design and develop machinery, products, systems, and processes.

The chief executive officer (CEO) is the top executive of a company. It’s where the buck stops.  Of course, the CEO of a major corporation probably makes more than the CEO of a small business, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CEOs are in third place.

While you may be surprised to learn that physicians are not in the number one position, they are as close as they can be, coming in at number two. It’s a long road to get there, requiring four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school, and three to eight years of internship and residency.

So who is in first? The cousin-profession to physicians: dentists and oral surgeons.

We all know what dentists do, but may not be as familiar with oral surgeons. They’re the ones who operate on the mouth, jaws, teeth, gums, neck, and head.

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