Jobs and pay in Kansas

The highest-paying occupations in Kansas

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.

2 further occupations are paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes them only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: neurologists, surgeons, all other. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Anesthesiologists$437,030
2. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$311,630
3. Psychiatrists$278,100
4. Family medicine physicians$229,390
5. Physicians, pathologists$224,280
6. Physicians, all other$221,540
7. Obstetricians and gynecologists$220,770
8. Nurse anesthetists$212,090
9. Pediatricians, general$209,840
10. Radiologists$179,990
11. Computer and information systems managers$164,830
12. Architectural and engineering managers$160,150
13. Sales managers$159,990
14. Purchasing managers$159,850
15. Air traffic controllers$159,700
16. Financial managers$159,380
17. Chief executives$158,100
18. Marketing managers$154,510
19. Natural sciences managers$153,820
20. Medical dosimetrists$150,670
21. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$148,910
22. Advertising and promotions managers$148,560
23. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$143,580
24. Economists$138,790
25. Law teachers, postsecondary$138,670

Where the jobs actually are in Kansas

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 workers47,140 employed
2. Registered nurses33,800 employed
3. Retail salespersons33,360 employed
4. Cashiers33,080 employed
5. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive32,120 employed
6. Customer service representatives29,200 employed
7. Stockers and order fillers26,750 employed
8. Home health and personal care aides25,350 employed
9. General and operations managers24,660 employed
10. Nursing assistants24,610 employed
11. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers24,220 employed
12. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand23,270 employed
13. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary20,000 employed
14. Waiters and waitresses19,480 employed
15. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners17,220 employed
16. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks15,380 employed
17. Elementary school teachers, except special education14,350 employed
18. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators13,830 employed
19. Accountants and auditors13,610 employed
20. Software developers13,580 employed
21. Maintenance and repair workers, general12,730 employed
22. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products12,630 employed
23. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel12,480 employed
24. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers12,010 employed
25. Cooks, restaurant11,620 employed

The best-paid Kansas 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. Air traffic controllers$159,700 · Associate's degree
2. Power distributors and dispatchers$116,810 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Radiation therapists$108,830 · Associate's degree
4. Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators$107,730 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$106,130 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. Commercial pilots$105,440 · Postsecondary nondegree award
7. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$104,970 · Postsecondary nondegree award
8. Transportation inspectors$103,380 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers$102,490 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$101,880 · High school diploma or equivalent
11. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$101,620 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment$99,420 · Postsecondary nondegree award
13. Diagnostic medical sonographers$96,310 · Associate's degree
14. Postmasters and mail superintendents$93,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
15. Legal support workers, all other$88,210 · Associate's degree
16. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$84,760 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Tool and die makers$83,890 · Postsecondary nondegree award
18. Signal and track switch repairers$83,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$82,950 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$82,670 · Associate's degree
21. Gas plant operators$80,760 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Aircraft mechanics and service technicians$80,270 · Postsecondary nondegree award
23. Power plant operators$79,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Millwrights$79,690 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. Layout workers, metal and plastic$79,240 · 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 Kansas does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Kansas 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.

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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