U.S. states' top-paying roles skew to healthcare and executive jobs

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Top-paying US jobs by state

Highlights

Chief executives are the top-paying job in 14 states and family medicine physicians lead in seven states as of May 2025, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Healthcare occupations top wage rankings in half the states, with roles like radiologists, cardiologists, and postsecondary health specialties teachers leading in specific states.
Healthcare accounted for about one-third of April U.S. job growth and will represent over 100% of total job growth in 2025 as other sectors contract.

State wage leaders in May 2025

As reported by Business Insider, family medicine physician is the highest-paying job in seven states, while chief executives rank first in 14 states under a methodology based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The analysis excludes broad catchall categories, such as grouped physician titles not listed separately, and only includes occupations with both specific employment and average annual wage estimates.

The ranking also shows healthcare roles leading in half of the states. Radiologists top the list in Pennsylvania, while cardiologists are the best-paying qualifying occupation in Georgia, New York, and Texas.

Healthcare's broader labor market role

Some of the occupations identified on the map also align with faster-growing job categories nationally. Financial managers lead pay rankings in several states, and their employment is projected to grow by 128,800 from 2024 to 2034, while postsecondary health specialties teachers, the top-paying role in Arkansas and Mississippi, are projected to add 50,100 jobs nationwide.

Even so, many of the healthcare jobs topping state wage lists are not expected to post strong national employment growth over the decade. The sector still plays an outsized role in supporting the U.S. labor market, accounting for about one-third of April job growth on its own, and more than 100% of total job growth in 2025 because the rest of the U.S. economy loses jobs excluding healthcare.

Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, previously says the U.S. is rapidly becoming not only a service economy but also a healthcare-driven economy. That dynamic reinforces the sector's growing importance both for high wages and for overall employment resilience.

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