America’s Best Paying Jobs – If You Can Get Them!
by Efin Advisor | February 19, 2010
If you’ve landed one of America’s best-paying jobs, you’ll definitely want to look closely at the many posts in Efinancialblog on protecting your income with the right kind of life insurance.
According to the U.S. government’s Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, based on 2008 data, high income earners span the spectrum, but most of the wealth is concentrated in the health care sector.
The typical surgeon (position # 1) makes an average of $206,770 a year. That puts surgeons above anesthesiologists (position #2) to have the best-paying job in the country.
Orthodontists (#3) average $194,930 in annual pay, while Obstetricians (#4) report in at an average of $192.780. Also putting their money where the mouth is are Oral and Maxilofacial Surgeons who earn an average $190,420 annually, (#5). Medical Internists are (#6) on the list, earning the most in the state of Wisconsin.
Back to the oral cavity again, Prosthodontists (#7) bring home a whopping $164,810 per year with “All Other” Physician and Surgeons avergaing $165,000 at the (#8) slot and General Medical Practicioners at (#9).
Rounding out the Top 10 are CEO’s (#10) with average annual pay of $160,444 for running their companies.
Taking a quick glance at these salaries, and the fact that 9 out of the top 10 jobs in America are in the field of medicine or oral health, is it just a coincidence that our nation’s health health care system is accused of living “high on the hog.” Or do our doctors and orthodontists deserve every penny that is comiing to them?
The Top 10 list at CNN Money strays outside of the medical profession with Sales Directors at #5 and a median salary of $149,000, and Actuaries at # 6 with their median at $129,000 . Finance Directors ranked (#7) with a median salary of $121,000.
Rounding out the CNN Money Top 10 are #8 Software Architect (Median: $117.000), # 9 Attorney (Median: $115,000) and #10, (OMG!), Insurance Broker!
And what about hedge fund managers, stockbrokers and oil executives? You won’t do shabbily in any of these spots either!
Seems like the figures the U.S. Govt’ reports are more conservative than what many surgeons and doctors make in most American cities. I can’t help but wonder how the income of these doctors here in America compares with their counterparts in Europe? Don’t get me wrong. They are doing God’s work. But doctors aren’t in it for the money now, or are they?
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I dont see the Wall Street bonus barons on this list. Are they not disclosing their incomes to the federal government? With CEO pay out of sight and hedge fund managers using a public safety net to take private risks, 2010 should the year that we start paying people based on their measurable performance, not on how much they can bend the rules to sponge windfall profits!
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Vince’s point is well taken. It’s one thing to pay doctors high pay for improving the quality of our lives, and another to allow investment bankers and CEO’s to earn salaries and bonuses that are 100, 200 or 300 times the pay of the people underneath them.
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