WageAtlas
How much does any job pay? US wages by occupation and state, from BLS.
WageAtlas answers "how much does an X earn?" using real US government wage data. Across all jobs, the US median annual wage is $49,500 and the mean is $67,920 (BLS OEWS, May 2024). These are gross wages — pay before tax, not take-home. For example, software developers earn a median of $133,080 and registered nurses a median of $93,600. Browse 124 occupations, compare 51 states, see the highest-paying jobs, or check where your pay ranks with the salary percentile tool.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024. Data as of OEWS May 2024 (BLS), retrieved June 2026.
Popular occupations
National median and mean gross annual wage, with US employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):
| Occupation | Median wage | Mean wage | US employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | $133,080 | $144,570 | 1,654,440 |
| Registered Nurses | $93,600 | $98,430 | 3,282,010 |
| Electricians | $62,350 | $69,630 | 742,580 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | $57,440 | $58,400 | 2,070,480 |
| Accountants and Auditors | $81,680 | $93,520 | 1,448,290 |
| Lawyers | $151,160 | $182,760 | 747,750 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024. Data as of OEWS May 2024 (BLS), retrieved June 2026.
What you can look up
- Wages by occupation — a page for every job with the national mean, median and 10th-to-90th-percentile pay range, plus the wage in all 51 states.
- Wages by state — a page for each state with its overall mean wage and how much benchmark occupations pay there.
- Rankings — the highest-paying jobs, highest-paying states and biggest occupations by employment.
- Salary percentile tool — enter your pay and an occupation to see which percentile band you fall in.
5 highest-paying jobs
- Family Medicine Physicians — $238,380 median
- General Internal Medicine Physicians — $236,350 median
- Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers — $226,600 median
- Dentists, General — $172,790 median
- Computer and Information Systems Managers — $171,200 median
5 highest-paying states
- District of Columbia — $88,000 median (all jobs)
- Massachusetts — $62,270 median (all jobs)
- Washington — $61,590 median (all jobs)
- Alaska — $59,400 median (all jobs)
- New York — $58,560 median (all jobs)
5 biggest occupations
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides — 3,988,140 jobs
- Retail Salespersons — 3,800,250 jobs
- Fast Food and Counter Workers — 3,780,930 jobs
- Registered Nurses — 3,282,010 jobs
- Cashiers — 3,148,030 jobs
Guides
Physicians, airline pilots and dentists top the list of highest-paying US jobs. Here is the 2026 ranking by BLS median wage, with the numbers.
2026-06-15 Cost of living vs wages: why a bigger salary isn't always betterA $62,000 wage in a cheap state can beat $88,000 in DC. Here is why cost of living matters as much as your salary, with the numbers.
2026-06-02 Highest-paying jobs without a degree (2026)You don't need a 4-year degree to earn well. Airline pilots, police supervisors and skilled trades lead the highest-paying no-degree jobs, by BLS data.
2026-05-28 Mean vs median wage: which number actually matters?Average salary headlines mix up mean and median. Here is the difference, why it matters, and which one to trust when comparing pay.
2026-04-20 Highest-paying states for nurses and software developersCalifornia pays registered nurses and software developers the most, but cost of living eats much of the gap. Here are the top-paying states, with the numbers.
2026-03-18 How BLS measures wages: OEWS explainedWhere do official US wage numbers come from? A plain-English guide to the BLS OEWS survey, what it covers, and how to read its figures.
2026-02-24Where the data comes from
Every wage on WageAtlas is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 release (published 2025, retrieved June 2026). OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments to estimate gross wages for over 800 occupations nationally and in every state — it is U.S. public domain. We curate 124 of the most-searched occupations. These are pre-tax wages, not take-home pay; for after-tax estimates use a paycheck calculator. See our methodology. Wages vary by employer, experience and location.
Last updated: 2026-06-20