Highest-Paying U.S. Occupations in 2026: Top 20 by Annual Mean Wage
Pediatric Surgeons Lead the Latest U.S. Pay Ranking
Pediatric surgeons rank first at $502,050 per year, followed by cardiologists at $454,940 and radiologists at $381,530. The ranking uses U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics national annual mean wage estimates for May 2025 and orders detailed occupations from highest to lowest pay.
This is a U.S.-only occupation ranking based on one official national source. European Union figures are kept outside the table because Eurostat uses a different classification, employee population, activity scope, reference year and currency.
Metric: annual mean wage. Unit: current U.S. dollars per year. Coverage: wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments. Direction: higher values rank higher. All 20 rows are official BLS estimates; no page-created forecast or projection is included.
Pediatric Surgeons, SOC 29-1243.
Orthodontists, SOC 29-1023.
Detailed occupations with published national wage values.
Annual mean wage · BLS OEWS · May 2025.
Official values · forecasts · projections.
Calculated from ranks 10 and 11.
What Annual Mean Wage Measures
Annual mean wage is the estimated average gross wage paid to workers in an occupation. It is not median salary, an entry-level offer, take-home income or the earnings of a self-employed practice owner. A high mean can be influenced by a smaller number of highly paid workers.
The ranked unit is a detailed Standard Occupational Classification occupation. Major, minor and broad groups are excluded so aggregate categories do not compete with the detailed occupations inside them. The SOC code under every name identifies the exact source row.
How to read the rank
Higher published annual mean wage ranks higher. The table is national and does not represent every state, city or employer.
Why professions differ
The table does not prove causation. Training length, licensing, specialised responsibility, labour supply, employer type and working patterns can influence pay.
Top 10 Highest-Paying U.S. Occupations
Every Top 10 position is medical or dental. Pediatric surgeons and cardiologists form the leading tier; ranks 3 through 10 range from $381,530 to $304,650.
Top 10 detailed occupations by national annual mean wage, May 2025
| Rank | Occupation | Annual wage | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pediatric SurgeonsSOC 29-1243 | $502,050 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 2 | CardiologistsSOC 29-1212 | $454,940 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 3 | RadiologistsSOC 29-1224 | $381,530 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 4 | Surgeons, All OtherSOC 29-1299 | $373,930 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 5 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except PediatricSOC 29-1242 | $373,570 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 6 | AnesthesiologistsSOC 29-1211 | $360,570 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 7 | Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeonsSOC 29-1022 | $346,490 | Dental · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 8 | DermatologistsSOC 29-1213 | $323,530 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 9 | Emergency Medicine PhysiciansSOC 29-1214 | $317,480 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 10 | Ophthalmologists, Except PediatricSOC 29-1241 | $304,650 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
Source for every row: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Values are official estimates and are not adjusted for tax, living costs or purchasing power.
Why EU Earnings Are Kept Outside This Ranking
Eurostat’s closest harmonised source is SES table earn_ses22_28. The comparison check uses EU27_2020, 2022, total sex, total age, euro values and ISCO-08 occupation groups within NACE Rev. 2 sections B–S excluding O.
SES coverage is mandatory for enterprises with at least 10 employees; smaller enterprises and NACE section O are optional. ISCO groups are broader than the detailed U.S. SOC occupations. Currency conversion alone cannot align those differences, so no combined U.S.–EU rank is shown.
U.S. source
Detailed SOC occupations · May 2025 · annual mean wage · U.S. dollars.
EU source
ISCO-08 groups · 2022 · mean annual earnings · euros.
Chart: Annual Mean Wages Across the Top 20
The bars are scaled to the $502,050 leader. Ranks 14 through 20 are separated by only $10,540, while the gap between first and third is $120,520.
The leader-to-20th gap is $242,650. Airline pilots and chief executives are the only non-health occupations in the Top 20. Labels and values remain readable even if bar styling is unavailable.
Methodology
Metric, unit and direction
National annual mean wage in current U.S. dollars per year. Larger published values rank higher.
Source and hierarchy
BLS OEWS is the sole numeric source for this ranking and has priority over commercial salary databases. Eurostat is used only to explain why EU rows are not merged.
Coverage
Wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The reference period is May 2025.
Status definitions
All 20 rows are official_value. No official forecast, page-created forecast or modeled projection appears in the ranking.
Inclusion and exclusion rules
Only detailed SOC occupations with a published national annual mean wage are eligible. Major, minor and broad groups are excluded to prevent aggregate categories from competing with occupations inside them. Rows without a published annual mean wage are excluded rather than estimated.
Official estimate method
OEWS values are official BLS estimates constructed from six semiannual survey panels collected across a three-year period. This statistical estimation method does not make the rows page-created projections; the page reproduces the published BLS May 2025 estimates.
Wage definition
OEWS wages represent straight-time gross pay and may include base pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips. Overtime premiums, shift differentials, severance, nonproduction bonuses and employer-paid benefits are excluded. BLS annualises hourly wages with 2,080 hours when appropriate.
Missing values and conflicts
Missing wages are not estimated. No commercial salary source is averaged with BLS. If a third-party figure conflicts with the official BLS value for the same occupation and reference period, the BLS estimate controls.
Calculations, assumptions and rounding
The Top 20 midpoint is ($304,650 + $288,650) ÷ 2 = $296,650. The health-occupation share is 18 ÷ 20 = 90%. Published wage values are displayed in whole dollars as reported by BLS. Chart widths are calculated as each wage divided by $502,050 and rounded to one decimal place. The ranking assumes detailed SOC rows are the appropriate comparable unit.
What the metric does not measure
The ranking does not measure median pay, entry-level wages, after-tax income, total compensation, self-employment income, training cost, employment probability, hours, stress, satisfaction or local purchasing power.
Full Ranking: Top 20 Highest-Paying U.S. Occupations
Search by occupation or SOC code, filter by category or status, change the order or limit the display. Without JavaScript, all rows remain visible.
Top 20 detailed occupations by national annual mean wage
| Rank | Occupation | Annual wage | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pediatric SurgeonsSOC 29-1243 | $502,050 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 2 | CardiologistsSOC 29-1212 | $454,940 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 3 | RadiologistsSOC 29-1224 | $381,530 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 4 | Surgeons, All OtherSOC 29-1299 | $373,930 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 5 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except PediatricSOC 29-1242 | $373,570 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 6 | AnesthesiologistsSOC 29-1211 | $360,570 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 7 | Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeonsSOC 29-1022 | $346,490 | Dental · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 8 | DermatologistsSOC 29-1213 | $323,530 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 9 | Emergency Medicine PhysiciansSOC 29-1214 | $317,480 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 10 | Ophthalmologists, Except PediatricSOC 29-1241 | $304,650 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 11 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight EngineersSOC 53-2011 | $288,650 | Aviation · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 12 | Physicians, PathologistsSOC 29-1222 | $285,420 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 13 | Obstetricians and GynecologistsSOC 29-1218 | $279,040 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 14 | PsychiatristsSOC 29-1223 | $269,940 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 15 | Chief ExecutivesSOC 11-1011 | $269,630 | Executive · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 16 | ProsthodontistsSOC 29-1024 | $268,630 | Dental · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 17 | NeurologistsSOC 29-1217 | $267,630 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 18 | General Internal Medicine PhysiciansSOC 29-1216 | $267,200 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 19 | Physicians, All OtherSOC 29-1229 | $262,040 | Medical · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
| 20 | OrthodontistsSOC 29-1023 | $259,400 | Dental · official value · BLS OEWS · May 2025 |
Every row uses the same official national source and reference period. Status, source, year and SOC code are also retained in row data attributes.
What the Top 20 Reveals
Key Insight
Pediatric surgeons are $47,110 above cardiologists and $120,520 above radiologists.
Notable Pattern
All Top 10 entries and 18 of the Top 20 are medical or dental occupations.
Regional / Source Concentration
The ranking is national rather than regional and uses one source: BLS OEWS May 2025.
Outlier
Airline pilots rank 11th at $288,650, making aviation the highest-ranked non-health category.
What This Means for Career Comparisons
A national mean does not predict an individual offer. Pay varies by experience, employer, industry and location, and the mean can sit above the wage earned by the worker in the middle.
Many leading occupations require lengthy education, residency, fellowship or licensing. Airline pilots and chief executives follow different paths, so equal annual wages can reflect very different training, risk and employment structures.
Readers should distinguish official published estimates from forecasts and projections. This table contains only official BLS estimates. International comparisons require aligned classifications, employee coverage, reference periods, taxes, benefits and purchasing power.
FAQ
What is the highest-paying U.S. occupation?
Pediatric surgeons rank first at $502,050 in annual mean wage.
Are these 2026 salaries?
No. This 2026 page uses official BLS wage estimates with a May 2025 reference date.
Why use mean rather than median wage?
The BLS national source used for this ranking publishes annual mean wages for detailed occupations. Mean and median answer different questions.
Does the ranking include self-employed workers?
No. OEWS covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments.
Why do health occupations dominate?
The table establishes the concentration but not one cause. Training, licensing, responsibility, supply and working patterns can affect pay.
Why are EU occupations not in the table?
Eurostat uses broader ISCO groups, different coverage, 2022 data and euro values, so a combined rank would not compare like with like.
Are benefits and overtime included?
Employer benefits, overtime premiums, shift differentials, severance and nonproduction bonuses are excluded from OEWS wages.
Sources
BLS archived May 2025 release
Primary official source for national wage values, survey scope, reference period and release date.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ocwage_05152026.pdf
BLS May 2025 occupation profiles and structure
Used to verify detailed SOC occupation titles, codes and classification structure.
BLS May 2025 national data file
Version-specific downloadable national OEWS dataset used to confirm row-level values.
Eurostat SES occupation table
Context source used only to assess whether EU occupation earnings can be combined with U.S. SOC rows.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_ses22_28/default/table?lang=en
Eurostat SES metadata
Used to verify enterprise-size coverage, activity scope and international comparability limits.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/earn_ses2022_esms.htm
