Jobs and pay in Ohio

The highest-paying occupations in Ohio

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. Surgeons, all other$554,220
2. Cardiologists$504,260
3. Anesthesiologists$490,530
4. Pediatric surgeons$488,160
5. Emergency medicine physicians$377,480
6. Dermatologists$373,640
7. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$323,480
8. Physicians, pathologists$309,480
9. Physicians, all other$297,440
10. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$271,270
11. Radiologists$260,000
12. General internal medicine physicians$249,990
13. Psychiatrists$244,990
14. Nurse anesthetists$231,810
15. Family medicine physicians$223,700
16. Orthodontists$219,300
17. Pediatricians, general$217,970
18. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$204,170
19. Dentists, all other specialists$192,050
20. Obstetricians and gynecologists$181,520
21. Chief executives$176,440
22. Dentists, general$167,410
23. Architectural and engineering managers$166,870
24. Computer and information systems managers$163,640
25. Physicists$162,900

Where the jobs actually are in Ohio

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 workers163,560 employed
2. General and operations managers153,160 employed
3. Registered nurses143,730 employed
4. Retail salespersons137,370 employed
5. Stockers and order fillers129,760 employed
6. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand108,830 employed
7. Home health and personal care aides106,940 employed
8. Cashiers103,020 employed
9. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators93,480 employed
10. Office clerks, general89,310 employed
11. Customer service representatives85,930 employed
12. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers83,060 employed
13. Waiters and waitresses77,250 employed
14. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners72,540 employed
15. Maintenance and repair workers, general64,770 employed
16. Nursing assistants63,280 employed
17. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products58,740 employed
18. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive54,790 employed
19. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers51,990 employed
20. Accountants and auditors50,440 employed
21. Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education49,540 employed
22. Elementary school teachers, except special education47,870 employed
23. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary47,300 employed
24. Cooks, restaurant46,910 employed
25. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks45,140 employed

The best-paid Ohio 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. Commercial pilots$150,330 · Postsecondary nondegree award
2. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$105,150 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$105,020 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Power plant operators$104,160 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$101,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. Power distributors and dispatchers$100,320 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Gambling managers$99,650 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Funeral home managers$99,440 · Associate's degree
9. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$98,700 · Postsecondary nondegree award
10. Radiation therapists$98,650 · Associate's degree
11. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$98,380 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Patternmakers, metal and plastic$97,690 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Postmasters and mail superintendents$97,680 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Nuclear medicine technologists$97,570 · Associate's degree
15. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$93,150 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Dental hygienists$88,990 · Associate's degree
17. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$87,670 · Associate's degree
18. Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators$85,930 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Boilermakers$85,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Camera and photographic equipment repairers$85,070 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$84,490 · Postsecondary nondegree award
22. Diagnostic medical sonographers$82,870 · Associate's degree
23. Artists and related workers, all other$82,280 · No formal educational credential
24. Gas plant operators$82,130 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$81,720 · 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 Ohio does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Ohio 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.

Computer numerically controlled tool operators lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states