The Best-Paid Professions

1. 1

   Anesthesiologists

   BLS caps its published figure here — the true median is likely higher.

   $239,200+

2. 2

   Obstetricians & Gynecologists

   $239,200+

3. 3

   Surgeons

   $239,200+

4. 4

   Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

   $239,200+

5. 5

   Orthodontists

   $239,200+

6. 6

   Chief Executives

   The only non-medical role to land at the very top of US pay data.

   $239,200

7. 7

   Airline Pilots, Copilots & Flight Engineers

   The highest-paid role on this list with an exact, uncapped figure.

   $226,600

8. 8

   Nurse Anesthetists

   $223,000+

US data only (BLS OEWS). Five-plus medical specialties are tied at the $239,200 reporting ceiling the BLS uses for its published tables — their exact internal order above that figure isn’t independently published, so treat ranks 1–5 as roughly interchangeable rather than precise.