Jobs and pay in Massachusetts

The highest-paying occupations in Massachusetts

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. Radiologists$426,560
2. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$392,300
3. Surgeons, all other$387,150
4. Emergency medicine physicians$356,230
5. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$325,200
6. Nurse anesthetists$295,550
7. General internal medicine physicians$285,250
8. Physicians, pathologists$285,240
9. Family medicine physicians$277,490
10. Obstetricians and gynecologists$272,240
11. Natural sciences managers$267,290
12. Physicians, all other$236,580
13. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$221,710
14. Pediatricians, general$221,170
15. Podiatrists$217,700
16. Computer and information systems managers$214,960
17. Marketing managers$212,020
18. Financial managers$206,760
19. Architectural and engineering managers$201,430
20. Sales managers$191,200
21. Compensation and benefits managers$184,070
22. Managers, all other$182,950
23. Human resources managers$181,780
24. Dentists, general$181,600
25. Lawyers$176,680

Where the jobs actually are in Massachusetts

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. Home health and personal care aides117,940 employed
2. General and operations managers95,880 employed
3. Registered nurses88,200 employed
4. Retail salespersons86,860 employed
5. Fast food and counter workers85,810 employed
6. Cashiers58,880 employed
7. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners55,490 employed
8. Waiters and waitresses54,670 employed
9. Customer service representatives49,990 employed
10. Stockers and order fillers49,760 employed
11. Software developers48,190 employed
12. Office clerks, general47,940 employed
13. Accountants and auditors46,230 employed
14. Market research analysts and marketing specialists39,710 employed
15. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary39,210 employed
16. Nursing assistants38,130 employed
17. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive37,750 employed
18. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand34,700 employed
19. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers34,520 employed
20. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel32,300 employed
21. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers30,890 employed
22. Management analysts30,060 employed
23. Elementary school teachers, except special education29,930 employed
24. Maintenance and repair workers, general29,830 employed
25. Cooks, restaurant29,570 employed

The best-paid Massachusetts 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. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$138,420 · High school diploma or equivalent
2. Signal and track switch repairers$126,440 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Air traffic controllers$125,060 · Associate's degree
4. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$123,830 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Ship engineers$122,720 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Power distributors and dispatchers$121,010 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Pile driver operators$120,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Structural iron and steel workers$120,840 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Plant and system operators, all other$120,660 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$119,460 · Postsecondary nondegree award
11. Nuclear medicine technologists$118,250 · Associate's degree
12. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$115,150 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Nuclear technicians$113,390 · Associate's degree
14. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$110,600 · Associate's degree
15. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$110,210 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Detectives and criminal investigators$110,150 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Locomotive engineers$108,790 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. Rail car repairers$108,680 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Diagnostic medical sonographers$107,480 · Associate's degree
20. Radiation therapists$106,300 · Associate's degree
21. First-line supervisors of correctional officers$105,930 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Cardiovascular technologists and technicians$105,580 · Associate's degree
23. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$104,320 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Gas plant operators$103,830 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. Radiologic technologists and technicians$103,620 · Associate's degree

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 Massachusetts does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Massachusetts 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.

Biochemists and biophysicists lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states