Lawyers Ranked No. 5 for Best Pay; Doctors Top List
Being a lawyer is good-paying work, if you can get it.
Lawyers make an average of about $130,000 a year, making their profession one of the most highly paid in the country, according to recent 2011 data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. CNBC.com used the statistics to create a list of the nation’s top 15 paying occupations.
Lawyers were No. 5 on the list. The article notes the job requires advanced education and says the profession “isn’t the easiest industry to break into.” Here are the top five:
1) Doctors and surgeons, with an average salary ranging from $168,650 to $234,950.
2) Orthodontists and dentists, with an average salary ranging from $161,750 to $204,670.
3) Chief executive officers, with an average salary of $176,550.
4) Petroleum engineers, with an average salary of $138,980.
5) Lawyers, with an average salary of $130,490.
Listed at No. 15 is pharmacist, with an average salary of $112,160.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Law Profs, Judges Make List of Best Paying Lifestyle Jobs”
ABA Journal: “What America’s Lawyers Earn”
ABAJournal.com: “Law Firm Associate Salaries ‘in Stasis’; First-Year Median Is Still $115K, NALP Says”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyers Make Up 6.2 Percent of the Nation’s Highest Earners”
