What Are the Best Paying Jobs in Alabama?

Do you live in Alabama? Are you thinking about moving there? With a low cost of living, it can provide a lot of benefits to people interested in saving money. But of course you’ll save more if you make more. So you might want to take a look at the best paying jobs in Alabama.

Doctors Have the Best Paying Jobs in Alabama

The best paying jobs vary from state to state. In some states, tech jobs pay the highest. However, the best paying jobs in Alabama belong to medical professionals. USA Wage reports that in 2020 the highest paying job in the state was physicians and ophthalmologists, except for pediatric physicians. However, general pediatricians had a higher starting salary and were second on the list of best paying jobs in Alabama. And dentists came in at number three.

How Much Do Medical Professionals Earn in Alabama?

Those non-pediatric physicians that are ranked at #1 earned an average 2020 salary of $195,750. However, their starting salary is just under $60,000. Therefore, it’s a career with a lot of growth potential but you don’t start off with the highest pay in the state. On the other hand, general pediatricians earn slightly less on average ($169,770) but have a starting salary of more than $84,000.

General dentists are comparable to general pediatricians. They have a slightly lower average salary at just under $169,000. However, their entry level salary is about $10,000 higher at $94,290.

Other Best-Paying Medical Jobs in Alabama

The USA Wage report lists the top 100 best paying jobs in Alabama. As you see, the first three are medical professionals. The top ten also includes three other medical professions: nurse anesthetists, psychiatrists, and pharmacists.

Here are their approximate average 2020 salaries and entry level wages:

Nurse anesthetists: $160,000 / $93,000
Psychiatrists: $160,000 / $90,000
Pharmacists: $127,000 / $91,000

As you can see, all three of these jobs pay $90,000 or more to start. That’s enough for a good life in Alabama. Of course, then over time you can earn more.

Best Paying Non-Medical Jobs in Alabama

What if you don’t want to go into a medical profession? Although six of the top ten best paying jobs in Alabama are in that field, you do have other choices. Managers, engineers, and CEOs are all top earners in the state as well.

Chief executives have the fourth highest paying job in the state. They earn over $160,000 annually on average. However, you don’t start off with high pay. This job is the lowest starting rate on the top ten list at under $50,000.

In contrast, architectural and engineering managers have the highest entry starting rate in the top ten. They earn over $94,000 to start. Their average annual salary is about $145,000.

Computer and information systems managers make the top ten best paying jobs in Alabama. They start off earning about $76,000. They climb to an annual salary of over $123,000.

Number ten on the Top 100 list is all other engineers. They start at about $67,000 and get to an average of about $123,000.

Best Paying Entry Level Salaries in Alabama

What if you don’t want to wait to make as much as you possibly can? If that’s the case, then you’ll want to find the Alabama jobs that have the highest entry level starting pay. The top ten jobs based on starting salary are:

Nuclear engineers: $103,000
Architectural and engineering managers (as shared above)
General dentists (as shared above)
Nurse anesthetists (as shared above)
Pharmacists (as shared above)
Airline pilots, copilots, and engineers: $91,000
General pediatricians (as shared above)
Computer and information research scientists: $77,000
Computer and information systems managers (as shared above)
Air trafic controllers: $74,000

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Kathryn Vercillo

Kathryn Vercillo is a professional writer who loves to live a balanced life. She appreciates a good work-life balance. She enjoys balance in her relationships and has worked hard to learn how to balance her finances to allow for a balanced life overall. Although she’s only blonde some of the time, she’s always striving for total balance. She’s excited to share what she’s learned with you and to discover more together along the way.