Here's the Bureau of Labor Statistics list of the top-paying jobs - but watch out. "If you're not in the medical industry, you're pretty much out of luck," CNBC once joked, noting that the highest salaries go to medical and dental professionals. The three jobs with the highest average salary are anesthesiologist, surgeon, and obstetrician/gynecologist - followed closely by orthodontist, prosthodontist, and oral surgeon. The other top-paying positions are medical internist, psychiatrist, and general practitioner. In fact, there's only one position in the top ten which is outside the medical industry: Chief Executive Officer.
But these statistics can be deceptive for a simple reason: CEOs receive hefty "bonuses" which are technically separate from their yearly salary. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Computers, famously receives a salary of just $1.00 a year, while his wealth soars with increases in the value of his company stock. And many chief executive officers have contracts which specify "performance" bonuses. In 2009, CitiGroup paid one of their top traders a bonus of $100 million!
Still, in the top 15 highest-paying positions, you'll only see one other job outside the medical and dental professions. Airline pilots (and co-pilots and flight engineers) earn an average salary of $140,380. And CNBC has some additional advice: "Those in this field should fly over to Illinois, where pilots, copilots and flight engineers are earning the most of any state!" Many commercial pilots got their training by serving in the Air Force or Navy - and then found they'd qualified for one of the top-paying jobs in the country!
Note that the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't release their statistics for a year's top-paying jobs until the end of that year. But here's the most recent numbers available, showing what the salaries are for the highest paying jobs - and where to find them!
1. Anesthesiologists: $184,340. (And anesthesiologists make more money in the state of Washington than in any other U.S. state)
2. Surgeons: $184,150. (Highest-paying state: Wyoming.)
3. Obstetricians and gynecologists: $178,040. (Highest-paying state: New Hampshire.)
4. Orthodontists: $176,900. (Highest-paying state: Wisconsin).
5. Oral Surgeons: $164,760. (Again, the highest-paying state is Wisconsin.)
6. Internists: $160,860. (Highest-paying state: Louisiana.)
7. Prosthodontists: $158,940. (Highest-paying state: Virginia)
8. Psychiatrists: $149,990. (Highest-paying state: Idaho.)
9. General Practitioners: $149,850. (Highest-paying state: Kansas.)
10. Chief Executive Officers: $144,600. (Highest-paying state: New Jersey.)
11. Dentists: $140,950. (Highest-paying state: Maine)
12. Physicians/Surgeons: $142,220. (Highest-paying state: Utah.)
13. General Pediatricians: $141,440. (Highest-paying state: Louisiana.)
14. Pilots/Co-pilots/Flight Engineers: $140,380. (Highest-paying state: Illinois.)
15. Podiatrists: $118,500. (Highest-paying state: Oregon.)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via CNBC.