Jobs and pay in Idaho

The highest-paying occupations in Idaho

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$507,640
2. Anesthesiologists$449,990
3. General internal medicine physicians$355,390
4. Family medicine physicians$347,160
5. Physicians, all other$299,340
6. Pediatricians, general$297,680
7. Dermatologists$281,920
8. Nurse anesthetists$263,130
9. Obstetricians and gynecologists$223,560
10. Emergency medicine physicians$221,430
11. Surgeons, all other$211,490
12. Chief executives$177,210
13. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$172,920
14. Architectural and engineering managers$162,970
15. Computer and information systems managers$162,240
16. Pharmacists$144,900
17. Marketing managers$142,090
18. Purchasing managers$136,970
19. Power distributors and dispatchers$136,550
20. Sales managers$135,350
21. Physicists$135,150
22. Nuclear engineers$133,970
23. Physician assistants$133,790
24. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers$133,750
25. Nurse practitioners$132,540

Where the jobs actually are in Idaho

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Fast food and counter workers25,810 employed
2. General and operations managers24,880 employed
3. Office clerks, general20,790 employed
4. Home health and personal care aides20,770 employed
5. Retail salespersons20,180 employed
6. Customer service representatives18,770 employed
7. Cashiers17,200 employed
8. Registered nurses16,880 employed
9. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers15,920 employed
10. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand15,610 employed
11. Stockers and order fillers12,450 employed
12. Waiters and waitresses10,950 employed
13. Construction laborers10,850 employed
14. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners10,800 employed
15. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks9,540 employed
16. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary8,710 employed
17. Carpenters8,380 employed
18. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers8,360 employed
19. Maintenance and repair workers, general8,200 employed
20. Cooks, restaurant8,130 employed
21. Landscaping and groundskeeping workers7,980 employed
22. Nursing assistants7,910 employed
23. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive7,570 employed
24. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers7,440 employed
25. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers7,330 employed

The best-paid Idaho work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Power distributors and dispatchers$136,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
2. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$125,410 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Power plant operators$124,440 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$119,170 · Postsecondary nondegree award
5. Commercial pilots$109,620 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Radio, cellular, and tower equipment installers and repairers$107,250 · Associate's degree
7. Nuclear medicine technologists$104,630 · Associate's degree
8. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$101,680 · Associate's degree
9. Cardiovascular technologists and technicians$100,100 · Associate's degree
10. Diagnostic medical sonographers$99,920 · Associate's degree
11. Radiation therapists$99,660 · Associate's degree
12. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$94,920 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Dental hygienists$94,650 · Associate's degree
14. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$93,920 · High school diploma or equivalent
15. Postmasters and mail superintendents$92,820 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$92,630 · Postsecondary nondegree award
17. Boilermakers$88,400 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. Rail car repairers$85,420 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door$84,390 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Chemical plant and system operators$82,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Electrical and electronics drafters$81,590 · Associate's degree
22. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers$81,010 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Avionics technicians$80,620 · Postsecondary nondegree award
24. Radiologic technologists and technicians$80,080 · Associate's degree
25. First-line supervisors of correctional officers$79,330 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Idaho does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Idaho employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Forest and conservation technicians lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states