When it comes to capturing a job seeker’s attention, we know that salary is one of the top factors a job seeker considers when deciding whether to apply for a particular job. Today, in a very tight job market, job seekers around the U.S. sit in the driver’s seat for finding their next dream job and earning the salary they think they deserve. So, with a recession potentially looming in the U.S., we identified those jobs and companies that are heating up the competition and paying the highest salaries in 2019.
We utilized Glassdoor’s unique data on salaries to compile the list of the highest payings jobs in 2019, as well as the highest paying companies in 2019, to find out which roles and companies offer the most competitive salaries.
Key Findings:
- Tech and healthcare roles continue to dominate the highest paying jobs list this year. Physician remains the highest paying job, earning a median base salary of $193,415. That’s over three-and-a-half times higher than the median U.S. base salary, currently at $53,950. We also see pharmacy manager, dentist and pharmacist at the top of the list, all paying well above $120,000 for a median base salary.
- Some of these high paying jobs, such as healthcare-related roles, require many years of advanced education, while other jobs require years of experience gained over time, such as technology and finance roles. Workers with these extensive knowledge and experience skill sets are in short supply, and employers are willing to pay top dollar to attract and retain talent.
- Tech companies also dominate the highest paying companies list, with Palo Alto Networks claiming the number one spot. However, we see a handful of non-tech companies such as gaming company Playstation and consulting firm McKinsey & Company showing that you don’t have to work at a tech company to earn the highest salaries.
Highest Paying Jobs
The highest paying jobs list highlights the 25 positions with the highest salaries in the U.S. in 2019. We compiled this list using Glassdoor salary reviews left between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 from U.S.-based employees. The full list of the highest paying jobs and their median base salaries are shown in the table below.
The highest paying job is physician, which has a median base salary of $193,415. The four highest paying roles on this list are in healthcare, showing the strong demand for employees in this field. While healthcare roles claim the highest paying spots on this list, the majority of roles are tech roles. The highest paying tech role is enterprise architect, which has a median base salary of $122,585. We see a variety of roles related to the analysis and management of data, including data scientist, data architect and analytics manager. Employers know they need to access data, understand it and use it to their advantage, and they’re willing to pay competitive salaries to do so. Many of these jobs require extensive higher education or an advanced degree – one of the top reasons these workers are receiving the biggest paychecks. Going forward, we should continue to expect to see jobs like these continuing to pay top dollar since the demand for talent with these niche skill sets is still exceeding the supply of talent by quite a bit.
25 Highest Paying Jobs in the U.S. for 2019
| Rank | Job Title | Median Base Salary |
| 1 | Physician | $193,415 |
| 2 | Pharmacy Manager | $144,768 |
| 3 | Dentist | $142,478 |
| 4 | Pharmacist | $126,438 |
| 5 | Enterprise Architect | $122,585 |
| 6 | Corporate Counsel | $117,588 |
| 7 | Software Engineering Manager | $114,163 |
| 8 | Physician Assistant | $113,855 |
| 9 | Corporate Controller | $113,368 |
| 10 | Software Development Manager | $109,809 |
| 11 | Nurse Practitioner | $109,481 |
| 12 | Applications Development Manager | $107,735 |
| 13 | Solutions Architect | $106,436 |
| 14 | Data Architect | $104,840 |
| 15 | Plant Manager | $104,817 |
| 16 | IT Program Manager | $104,454 |
| 17 | Systems Architect | $103,813 |
| 18 | UX Manager | $102,489 |
| 19 | Site Reliability Engineer | $100,855 |
| 20 | Cloud Engineer | $98,626 |
| 21 | Attorney | $97,711 |
| 22 | Data Scientist | $97,027 |
| 23 | Information Security Engineer | $95,786 |
| 24 | Analytics Manager | $95,238 |
| 25 | Financial Planning & Analysis Manager | $94,874 |
Highest Paying Companies
This list of the 25 highest paying companies highlights employers offering the most competitive total compensation in the U.S. We compiled this list using Glassdoor salary reviews reported by employees between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, including details on base pay and other forms of compensation (i.e. commissions, tips, bonuses, etc.).
The three highest paying employers in 2019 were all tech companies paying a median total salary over $160,000 a year. The highest paying company is Palo Alto Networks, where the median total compensation is $170,929. While several of these companies are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area, these median total salaries tower above the Bay Area’s median base pay of $73,128. Not surprisingly, tech companies dominate the list of high paying employers, including companies like Twitter, Google and LinkedIn.
In addition to tech, there are also consulting and finance companies such as McKinsey & Company and BNP Paribas that offer high salaries, along with employers in biotech and gaming industries. In today’s labor economy, these companies are offering high salaries in order to attract top-notch candidates and stand out against the competition. We expect to see these companies continuing to offer competitive salaries in the future so they can continue to appeal to prospective candidates and retain their current employees. It’s critical that employers take into account other factors besides salary, like a strong company culture and trust in senior leadership, that drive employee satisfaction.
25 Highest Paying Companies in the U.S. for 2019
| Rank | Employer | Median Total Salary |
| 1 | Palo Alto Networks | $170,929 |
| 2 | NVIDIA | $170,068 |
| 3 | $162,852 | |
| 4 | Gilead Sciences | $162,210 |
| 5 | $161,254 | |
| 6 | VMware | $158,063 |
| 7 | $157,402 | |
| 8 | $152,962 | |
| 9 | Salesforce | $150,379 |
| 10 | Microsoft | $148,068 |
| 11 | Juniper Networks | $146,781 |
| 12 | ServiceNow | $145,529 |
| 13 | McKinsey & Company | $145,367 |
| 14 | PlayStation | $143,229 |
| 15 | Autodesk | $142,083 |
| 16 | Workday | $141,893 |
| 17 | Synopsys | $140,577 |
| 18 | eBay | $140,056 |
| 19 | BNP Paribas | $140,056 |
| 20 | Qualcomm | $139,754 |
| 21 | Tableau Software | $138,043 |
| 22 | Western Digital | $137,527 |
| 23 | Veritas | $137,244 |
| 24 | Adobe | $135,027 |
| 25 | Genentech | $133,605 |
Conclusion
Healthcare roles like physician and pharmacy manager top the list of the highest paying jobs in 2019, both paying over $140,000. And, after tech roles, healthcare is the second most common industry among the highest paying jobs. The jobs on this list vary in terms of level of skills and experience required, and whether attained from years of schooling or on the job, the high paycheck they yield signifies the high demand for workers trained and ready to take on these fields.
In previous economic research, we found that company culture and values, trust in senior leadership and career opportunities matter most when it comes to keeping employees satisfied in their jobs. So, while salary is a factor to consider when determining where to work, it shouldn’t be the only information used to make that important decision.
How We Determine the Highest Paying Jobs List
Glassdoor’s 25 Highest Paying Jobs in America report identifies the jobs with the highest annual median base salary, using a proprietary statistical algorithm to estimate annual median base pay, which controls for factors such as location and seniority. Job titles must receive at least 100 salary reports shared by U.S.-based employees over the past year (7/01/18 – 6/30/19). The number of job openings per job title represents active job listings on Glassdoor as of 8/26/19. This report takes into account job title normalization that groups similar job titles. C-suite level jobs were excluded from this report.
How We Determine the Highest Paying Companies List
Glassdoor’s 25 Highest Paying Companies in America report identifies companies with the highest median total compensation package (including base salary and other forms of compensation, such as commissions, tips, bonuses, etc.), as reported by U.S.-based employees on Glassdoor over the past year (7/01/18 – 6/30/19). Companies considered for this report must have received at least 75 salary reports in U.S. dollars by U.S-based employees during this timeframe. When sharing a salary report on Glassdoor, employees share base salary and have the option to include other forms of compensation. In cases where companies have the same median total compensation, the company with the higher median base compensation receives the higher rank. Subsidiaries of companies were considered for this report if they met the methodology and have their own distinct job listings and profile on Glassdoor.
