19 Hot Jobs That Pay More Than $100,000 a Year

Choosing a career can be an overwhelming decision, thanks to the vast array of options available to you.

Aiming high and setting a six-figure salary goal could be a smart move — it narrows down your choices and might even help you secure a bright financial future. And where you do that job makes a difference in your pay, too.

To find jobs where you can earn more than $100,000 a year, GOBankingRates analyzed all occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that paid a 2022 median salary between $100,000-$150,000 AND had an employment growth outlook for 2021-2031 that was greater than 5%. In addition, the study found each occupation’s top-paying metropolitan area.

Here are the top 19 fields with six-figure salaries, listed in order of lowest percentage of employment growth outlook to highest.

• Annual Median Wage: $137,740
• Employment Growth Outlook: 15.4%

People turn to personal financial advisors for guidance when it comes to investments, such as stocks and bonds, as well as how to grow their money to save for both short-term and long-term life events, including retirement. Personal financial advisors have the opportunity to make the most money in the Anchorage, Alaska area.

• Annual Median Wage: $108,130
• Employment Growth Outlook: 15.4%

Experts in computer and mathematical occupations can find jobs at a variety of employers, including software publishers, computer and peripheral equipment manufacturers, rail transporters and even local deliverers. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California metro area, the nation’s tech hub, offers the best pay in the field.

• Annual Median Wage: $101,740
• Employment Growth Outlook: 16.3%

Web developers have the task of building websites, as well as maintaining them in terms of performance and needed technology. Digital designers take charge of how the website or interface functions and how it is navigated. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California area again has the highest-paying jobs.

• Annual Median Wage: $110,670
• Employment Growth Outlook: 17.4%

Professionals who work in this field are researchers who strive to discover more about human diseases and how to improve health. Practitioners can include dentists, physicians, pharmacologists and medical pathologists whose careers focus on research. The Waterbury, Connecticut metro area offers the best pay opportunities.

• Annual Median Wage: $108,720
• Employment Growth Outlook: 18.0%

Medical scientists generally have a Ph.D. and not a medical degree, though sometimes they could have both or just an MD. Their work includes conducting experiments to figure out the cause of diseases and often conducting clinical trials to determine how patients react to possible treatments. The Waterbury, Connecticut metro area again offers the best pay opportunities.

• Annual Median Wage: $129,110
• Employment Growth Outlook: 19.4%

A doctor of veterinary medicine degree and a state license to practice can earn you a six-figure salary as a veterinarian. Although the professional services industry has the highest concentration of veterinarians, and most work in private clinics and hospitals, you also can build a career within social advocacy organizations and museums and historical sites.

The Honolulu, Hawaii area is the most lucrative metro-area market for veterinarians.

• Annual Median Wage: $127,580
• Employment Growth Outlook: 20.8%

Working primarily for finance and insurance companies, actuaries use statistical data to estimate the probability and financial costs of events like accidents and death, and then devise strategies to mitigate the risk and enhance profitability.

Actuaries who work in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area earn the highest annual mean wage.

• Annual Median Wage: $105,750
• Employment Growth Outlook: 20.8%

Software quality assurance analysts and testers create software programs from beginning to end, tailored to the users’ needs. They also figure out just what the software should include, in terms of security and other functionality. It makes sense that the tech-fertile San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, metro area offers the path to the highest pay.

• Annual Median Wage: $124,940
• Employment Growth Outlook: 22.0%

If your interests lie in coding, a career as a software developer, quality assurance analyst or tester can earn you a great salary doing what you love. These individuals usually work in teams to design and test computer software to find, report and resolve problems. As with several other high-paying technology-related jobs on this list, you’ll earn the best pay if you work in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California metropolitan area.

• Annual Median Wage: $116,780
• Employment Growth Outlook: 23.4%

Postsecondary teachers work in post-high school learning institutions, such as colleges and universities. In general, postsecondary teachers must have earned a Ph.D. or doctoral degree in their field of expertise. The teachers will find the best pay in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut metropolitan area.

• Annual Median Wage: $127,640
• Employment Growth Outlook: 24.1%

High school graduates who want to pursue careers in health will learn from postsecondary health specialties teachers. These instructors teach in areas from dentistry to general medicine to pharmacy to therapy to even veterinary medicine. Again, the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area provides lucrative pay.

• Annual Median Wage: $132,930
• Employment Growth Outlook: 26.0%

Software developers create computer and network software, often as part of a team that includes computer hardware engineers. Software developers work to determine the needs of the user through research, design and engineering. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California metropolitan area again provides the best pay for this tech-related job.

• Annual Median Wage: $125,270
• Employment Growth Outlook: 27.6%

A physician assistant career might appeal to those who want to work in patient care but want a more clinical experience than nursing provides — without the long years of school and training to become a physician. PAs perform patient exams, order tests, diagnose illnesses and injuries and provide hands-on treatment under the supervision of a physician. Job requirements include a master’s degree and a license, which requires passing an exam. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California area tops this job category for pay, too.

• Annual Median Wage: $127,980
• Employment Growth Outlook: 28.3%

Medical and health services managers oversee medical and health services in accordance with laws, regulations and technological standards. Some run medical or health facilities, whereas others focus on a particular clinical specialty or department. Medical and health services managers can also manage group medical practices. Where will you find the best pay in this field? The Dalton, Georgia metro area.

• Annual Median Wage: $108,620
• Employment Growth Outlook: 28.7%

People filling mathematical science occupation jobs can find themselves working in fields as diverse as computer systems design or management, scientific and technical consulting services. The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California area has the best-paying jobs.

• Annual Median Wage: $105,510
• Employment Growth Outlook: 32.7%

Statisticians must have a variety of skills – analytical, math, problem-solving, communication and logical thinking – to succeed. Their tasks include gathering data from specific groups, and to collect the necessary information, they create tools such as questionnaires, surveys, opinion polls and experiments. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut area ranks the highest for average wages.

• Annual Median Wage: $119,860
• Employment Growth Outlook: 34.7%

Information security analysts play a crucial role in enacting security measures to keep computer networks – and our personal data – safe. They monitor computer networks and systems of their employer for security breaches, look for vulnerable areas in the network, and install preventive measures such as data encryption programs.

With all of the computer networks and systems in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro in California, it makes sense that this is the top metro area for pay for information security analysts.

• Annual Median Wage: $115,240
• Employment Growth Outlook: 35.8%

Data scientists collect, structure and analyze data to gain insights that can be used to solve problems, make decisions, create processes and perform a host of other functions. For the highest-paying jobs, head to the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area in the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

• Annual Median Wage: $124,680
• Employment Growth Outlook: 45.7%

A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse with additional graduate education. Nurse practitioners are trained to diagnose illnesses, whether acute, chronic or current, and also may order or perform lab work or other diagnostic tests. They are authorized to write prescriptions as well. With the high need for medical professionals – the job has an employment growth outlook of 45.7% — nurse practitioners likely have many choices of where to work. And if they’re willing to move, where should they direct the car for the highest pay? Head to San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California.

Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: To find the jobs where you can make more than $100,000 a year, GOBankingRates used the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Occupational Outlook Handbook, which utilizes and categorizes the May 2022 Occupational Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. GOBankingRates analyzed all occupations that had a 2022 median pay above $100,000, but below $150,000 AND a employment growth outlook for 2021-2031 that was greater than 10% (later expanded to 5% to add supplemental data). GOBankingRates also found the Employment Growth Outlook 2021-2031 for each occupation as well as each occupations top paying metropolitan area, both sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021 Occupational Outlook Handbook and the May 2022 Occupational Employment Statistics. All data was collected and is up-to-date as-of June 5th, 2023.