Jobs and pay in Washington

The highest-paying occupations in Washington

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 further occupation is paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes it only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: radiologists. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Cardiologists$656,330
2. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$553,310
3. Dermatologists$526,170
4. Anesthesiologists$499,990
5. Surgeons, all other$479,460
6. Emergency medicine physicians$380,870
7. Obstetricians and gynecologists$343,140
8. General internal medicine physicians$340,010
9. Chief executives$339,810
10. Neurologists$327,140
11. Physicians, all other$307,170
12. Psychiatrists$304,920
13. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$304,830
14. Physicians, pathologists$300,680
15. Family medicine physicians$292,900
16. Orthodontists$290,430
17. Nurse anesthetists$274,390
18. Podiatrists$232,970
19. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$229,900
20. Computer and information systems managers$209,370
21. Computer and information research scientists$202,400
22. Compensation and benefits managers$199,190
23. Architectural and engineering managers$189,680
24. Medical dosimetrists$189,280
25. Natural sciences managers$182,480

Where the jobs actually are in Washington

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. Software developers107,030 employed
2. Home health and personal care aides103,260 employed
3. Fast food and counter workers94,710 employed
4. Retail salespersons84,850 employed
5. Registered nurses69,260 employed
6. Cashiers61,050 employed
7. Stockers and order fillers57,370 employed
8. Business operations specialists, all other51,650 employed
9. General and operations managers50,630 employed
10. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand49,450 employed
11. Office clerks, general49,050 employed
12. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners47,380 employed
13. Waiters and waitresses45,400 employed
14. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary43,420 employed
15. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers40,530 employed
16. Customer service representatives39,760 employed
17. Project management specialists36,240 employed
18. Cooks, restaurant35,140 employed
19. Accountants and auditors34,740 employed
20. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks32,930 employed
21. Maintenance and repair workers, general32,450 employed
22. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers31,790 employed
23. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive31,710 employed
24. Nursing assistants30,270 employed
25. Elementary school teachers, except special education28,980 employed

The best-paid Washington 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$162,570 · Associate's degree
2. Commercial divers$161,800 · Postsecondary nondegree award
3. Power distributors and dispatchers$144,710 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$137,180 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$136,500 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$136,280 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$133,060 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Power plant operators$131,620 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Dental hygienists$131,160 · Associate's degree
10. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$129,350 · Postsecondary nondegree award
11. Nuclear medicine technologists$126,200 · Associate's degree
12. Lighting technicians$126,100 · Postsecondary nondegree award
13. Radiation therapists$125,880 · Associate's degree
14. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$125,620 · Postsecondary nondegree award
15. Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians$125,160 · Associate's degree
16. Fire inspectors and investigators$122,900 · Postsecondary nondegree award
17. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$122,750 · Associate's degree
18. Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment$122,140 · Postsecondary nondegree award
19. Signal and track switch repairers$121,710 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Diagnostic medical sonographers$121,340 · Associate's degree
21. Property, real estate, and community association managers$119,320 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Commercial pilots$117,730 · Postsecondary nondegree award
23. Detectives and criminal investigators$115,790 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Pile driver operators$111,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers$110,470 · 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 Washington does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Washington 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.

Avionics technicians lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states