Have you ever fantasized about winning the lottery jackpot? Some occupations have a few jackpot positions that pay extremely well. You’re certainly familiar with movie stars who earn the millions that most struggling actors can only dream about. The radio plays songs by musical superstars who bring home more than the combined earnings of 100 bar bands.
Among the
occupations included in this book, some offer extremely high earning
opportunities for a relatively small subset of workers. You can’t tell which
occupations these are by looking at the median wage figure or even at the range
of the middle 50 percent of earners. But I have a way of identifying these
occupations for you.
Imagine this
situation: Five friends are sitting around a restaurant table having lunch.
They all earn roughly the same amount:
Person
|
Earnings
|
|
Joe
|
$50,000
|
|
Lydia
|
$51,000
|
|
Mateo
|
$52,000
|
←
median
|
Isabella
|
$53,000
|
|
Mike
|
$54,000
|
For the group, the median earnings figure is $52,000 (half earn more, half earn less). If you calculate the mean earnings (add them all up and divide by 5), you’ll get the same figure, $52,000. But let’s say Mike gets a phone call telling him that he was just promoted to vice president and is now earning $150,000. Note that the median for the group has not changed, but the mean has jumped to $71,200. Because there is now one superstar earner in the group, the mean is now 37 percent higher than the median.
For the 173
occupations in this book, I calculated the difference between the median
earnings and the mean earnings. (The BLS reports both figures.) The following
list includes those occupations in which the mean is at least 15 percent higher
than the median. They are ordered by how much the mean exceeds the median. For
each occupation, I list both earnings figures.
What might
cause you to be among the highest of the high-paid workers? Here are some
possible reasons:
- You have an outstanding talent. Maybe you were born with some ability that few other people have.
- Through hard work or study, you have developed outstanding skills. Whether these are physical or mental skills, they can put you ahead of the pack.
- You use mass media to reach a very large paying audience. Think about how much more a TV chef can earn compared to a one-restaurant chef.
- You find a specialization or a geographic location that causes you to be in high demand but have no competition. This advantage may be only temporary, but you may be able to command high earnings as long as you are the go-to person for your narrow field or community.
- You go into management.
Whether you
look at the following list as a collection of nice fantasies or as possible
roadmaps to your future, the list makes for interesting reading.
High-Paying
Occupations with a Few Superstars
Title
|
Median
Earnings
|
Mean Earnings
|
|
1.
|
Securities,
Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents
|
$71,720
|
$100,910
|
2.
|
Agents
and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
|
$63,370
|
$88,620
|
3.
|
Real
Estate Brokers
|
$58,350
|
$80,220
|
4.
|
Personal
Financial Advisors
|
$67,520
|
$90,820
|
5.
|
Producers
and Directors
|
$71,350
|
$92,390
|
6.
|
Health
Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary
|
$81,140
|
$100,370
|
7.
|
Advertising
and Promotions Managers
|
$88,590
|
$107,060
|
8.
|
General
and Operations Managers
|
$95,440
|
$114,850
|
9.
|
Chiropractors
|
$66,160
|
$79,550
|
10.
|
Art,
Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
|
$62,160
|
$73,340
|
11.
|
Health
Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners, All Other
|
$72,710
|
$85,740
|
12.
|
Loan
Officers
|
$59,820
|
$70,350
|
13.
|
First-Line
Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers
|
$70,060
|
$82,320
|
14.
|
Geoscientists,
Except Hydrologists and Geographers
|
$90,890
|
$106,780
|
15.
|
Biological
Science Teachers, Postsecondary
|
$74,180
|
$87,060
|
16.
|
Art
Directors
|
$80,880
|
$94,260
|
17.
|
Business
Teachers, Postsecondary
|
$73,660
|
$85,730
|
18.
|
Financial
Analysts
|
$76,950
|
$89,410
|
19.
|
Law
Teachers, Postsecondary
|
$99,950
|
$115,550
|
20.
|
Area,
Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary
|
$67,360
|
$77,690
|
21.
|
Lawyers
|
$113,530
|
$130,880
|
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