Some occupations have a very unequal distribution of pay, with a few "star" earners and a lot of low earners. For example, for every Mariah Carey or Johnny Depp, there are thousands of other singers and actors who don't earn even minimum wage from performing. If you are interested in a career that has the potential for a big payoff even though the competition is keen, you may want to scan the following list.
This list is different from the previous lists in that it is not based solely on the median wage-which marks the point where half of the workers earn more, half less. Our focus here is not on the middle of the wage distribution; instead, we're looking at the high end for a few extremely high earners. The way we identify those occupations is to look instead at the mean earnings figure and how this differs from the median. The mean is the algebraic average, so if the mean is a lot higher than the median, it means that a few "star" earners are pulling up the average. (They are doing the same thing that high-achieving students do to grades when they "ruin the curve" for average students.)
Here is an example that explains what we're doing. Let's say we're looking at an occupation with only seven workers, and this is how their earnings are distributed:
| Worker | Annual Earnings |
| A | $10,000 |
| B | $20,000 |
| C | $30,000 |
| D | $40,000 (median: half earn more than D, half less) |
| E | $50,000 |
| F | $60,000 |
| G | $70,000 |
The median wage is $40,000, and if you do the math you'll find that $40,000 is also the mean (average) wage. That makes sense because the wages are distributed very evenly here. But let's say that worker G suddenly becomes a star and earns $400,000. The median does not change, but the mean now soars to $87,143. Having a star earner in the mix of workers creates a big gap between the median and the mean.
So to compile the following list we identified all the jobs among the 250 best for which the mean wage figure was at least 14 percent higher than the median, and we ordered them by the size of the difference, expressed as a percentage of the mean wage. It may not surprise you to find a number of entertainment-related jobs near the top of the list. (Musicians, Singers, Actors, and Dancers would probably be in this list as well if annual wage figures were available.) But did you realize that some business jobs also have star earners? Some medical specialties may also have outstanding earners (think of Hollywood plastic surgeons), but because we were unable to obtain a median wage figure for these occupations (other than "over $145,600"), we could not do the math to determine whether they belong here.
| 20 Jobs with a Few "Star" Earners | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Percent by Which Mean Annual Earnings Exceed Median | Earnings | Percent Growth | Annual Openings |
| 1. Real Estate Brokers | 25.7% | $57,190 | 7.8% | 12,000 |
| 2. Sales Agents, Financial Services | 23.7% | $67,130 | 11.5% | 37,000 |
| 3. Sales Agents, Securities and Commodities | 23.7% | $67,130 | 11.5% | 37,000 |
| 4. Personal Financial Advisors | 23.5% | $63,500 | 25.9% | 17,000 |
| 5. Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes | 23.2% | $53,800 | 11.8% | 2,000 |
| 6. Directors-Stage, Motion Pictures, Television, and Radio | 21.9% | $53,860 | 16.6% | 11,000 |
| 7. Producers | 21.9% | $53,860 | 16.6% | 11,000 |
| 8. Program Directors | 21.9% | $53,860 | 16.6% | 11,000 |
| 9. Talent Directors | 21.9% | $53,860 | 16.6% | 11,000 |
| 10. Technical Directors/Managers | 21.9% | $53,860 | 16.6% | 11,000 |
| 11. Chiropractors | 18.1% | $67,200 | 22.4% | 4,000 |
| 12. Loan Officers | 16.7% | $49,440 | 8.3% | 38,000 |
| 13. First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Non- Retail Sales Workers | 15.9% | $61,970 | 1.9% | 38,000 |
| 14. Funeral Directors | 15.3% | $47,630 | 6.7% | 3,000 |
| 15. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 15.3% | $47,380 | 12.9% | 169,000 |
| 16. Advertising and Promotions Managers | 15.2% | $68,860 | 20.3% | 9,000 |
| 17. Commercial Pilots | 14.9% | $55,810 | 16.8% | 2,000 |
| 18. General and Operations Managers | 14.6% | $81,480 | 17.0% | 208,000 |
| 19. Sociologists | 14.5% | $52,760 | 4.7% | fewer than 500 |
| 20. Film and Video Editors | 14.2% | $46,930 | 18.6% | 3,000 |
39 Jobs in Which Almost Everyone Is Well-Paid
Maybe you're a person who doesn't like to take chances, and you're not confident you have the star power needed to soar above the other earners in your career. This list features occupations in which even comparatively low-paid workers are doing fine. Specifically, the workers who earn at the 10th percentile (meaning that 90 percent of the workers in the occupation earn more than they do) still earn at least $46,300, which means they earn more than 75 percent of all American wage-earners. They are ordered by the earnings of the workers at the 10th percentile.
| 39 Jobs in Which Almost Everyone Is Well-Paid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Annual Earnings of "Low-Paid" Workers | Average Annual Earnings | Percent Growth | Annual Openings |
| 1. Surgeons | $116,560 | more than $145,600 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 2. Anesthesiologists | $108,040 | more than $145,600 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 3. Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $95,960 | more than $145,600 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 4. Internists, General | $88,790 | more than $145,600 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 5. Orthodontists | $73,300 | more than $145,600 | 12.8% | 1,000 |
| 6. Pediatricians, General | $66,520 | $136,600 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 7. Engineering Managers | $65,150 | $100,760 | 13.0% | 15,000 |
| 8. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons | $64,930 | more than $145,600 | 16.2% | fewer than 500 |
| 9. Dentists, General | $64,770 | $125,300 | 13.5% | 7,000 |
| 10. Pharmacists | $64,350 | $89,820 | 24.6% | 16,000 |
| 11. Psychiatrists | $63,820 | more than $145,600 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 12. Nuclear Engineers | $63,760 | $88,290 | 7.3% | 1,000 |
| 13. Prosthodontists | $63,310 | more than $145,600 | 13.6% | fewer than 500 |
| 14. Air Traffic Controllers | $60,340 | $107,590 | 14.3% | 2,000 |
| 15. Chief Executives | $59,990 | $142,440 | 14.9% | 38,000 |
| 16. Government Service Executives | $59,990 | $142,440 | 14.9% | 38,000 |
| 17. Private Sector Executives | $59,990 | $142,440 | 14.9% | 38,000 |
| 18. Computer and Information Systems Managers | $57,300 | $96,520 | 25.9% | 25,000 |
| 19. Aerospace Engineers | $57,250 | $84,090 | 8.3% | 6,000 |
| 20. Family and General Practitioners | $56,680 | $140,400 | 24.0% | 41,000 |
| 21. Computer Hardware Engineers | $52,470 | $84,420 | 10.1% | 5,000 |
| 22. Computer Software Engineers, Systems Software | $51,890 | $82,120 | 43.0% | 37,000 |
| 23. Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $51,540 | $138,170 | 17.2% | 7,000 |
| 24. Petroleum Engineers | $51,410 | $93,000 | -0.1% | 1,000 |
| 25. Nuclear Power Reactor Operators | $51,370 | $66,230 | -0.5% | 1,000 |
| 26. Natural Sciences Managers | $50,260 | $93,090 | 13.6% | 5,000 |
| 27. Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $50,090 | $78,030 | 9.7% | 11,000 |
| 28. Astronomers | $49,920 | $104,670 | 10.4% | fewer than 500 |
| 29. Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School | $49,540 | $75,400 | 10.4% | 27,000 |
| 30. Chemical Engineers | $49,350 | $77,140 | 10.6% | 3,000 |
| 31. Lawyers | $49,180 | $98,930 | 15.0% | 40,000 |
| 32. Physicists | $49,070 | $89,810 | 7.0% | 1,000 |
| 33. Industrial-Organizational Psychologists | $48,950 | $84,690 | 20.4% | fewer than 500 |
| 34. Marketing Managers | $48,590 | $92,680 | 20.8% | 23,000 |
| 35. Financial Managers, Branch or Department | $47,910 | $86,280 | 14.8% | 63,000 |
| 36. Treasurers, Controllers, and Chief Financial Officers | $47,910 | $86,280 | 14.8% | 63,000 |
| 37. Electrical Engineers | $47,750 | $73,510 | 11.8% | 12,000 |
| 38. Computer Software Engineers, Applications | $47,370 | $77,090 | 48.4% | 54,000 |
| 39. Industrial Production Managers | $46,300 | $75,580 | 0.8% | 13,000 |