Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA, ranked by annual average salary. For each job, the table displays the number of employees with that job, as well as the job's entry-level salary. (The entry-level salary is calculated based on the 10% of paid workers with the lowest salaries.)

Based on the table, we see that the highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA are those of all other physicians, with an average annual salary of $238,080. The second highest-paying jobs are those of obstetricians and gynecologists, with an average salary of $237,620.

All of the shown salary and employment information for Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA has been computed using data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in April 2023. Notably, the highest-paying occupations change from year to year. Tables 2, 3, and 4 show the top 10 highest-paying occupations in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Table 1. Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA (2022 survey)

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	All Other Physicians	$238,080	$65,240	460
2	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$237,620	$221,840	40
3	General Pediatricians	$236,100	$218,720	60
4	Nurse Anesthetists	$206,260	$120,010	70
5	Family Medicine Physicians	$200,600	$135,350	210
6	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$186,010	$95,310	50
7	Psychiatrists	$178,660	$65,480	40
8	Physicists	$175,820	$83,050	40
9	General Dentists	$166,700	$69,690	190
10	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$162,220	$230,780	120
11	Chief Executives	$159,990	$49,980	1,220
12	Optometrists	$135,550	$60,280	140
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$134,500	$98,380	1,520
14	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$133,830	$86,550	370
15	Financial Managers	$133,580	$81,060	4,200
16	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$133,020	$66,280	40
17	Pharmacists	$132,590	$105,450	630
18	Marketing Managers	$129,780	$76,870	900
19	Physician Assistants	$129,010	$74,980	180
20	Sales Managers	$128,650	$75,640	910
21	Nurse Practitioners	$126,460	$102,480	520
22	Database Architects	$125,190	$86,830	170
23	All Other Managers	$124,790	$74,970	1,110
24	Public Relations Managers	$124,390	$73,550	200
25	Human Resources Managers	$123,590	$74,980	480
26	Elementary and Secondary School Education Administrators	$121,270	$69,920	700
27	Information Security Analysts	$120,640	$63,710	810
28	Fundraising Managers	$116,590	$73,940	80
29	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$110,710	$64,150	290
30	Computer Network Architects	$109,310	$61,850	480
31	Purchasing Managers	$108,140	$69,330	80
32	Data Scientists	$106,900	$63,810	1,220
33	Software Developers	$105,970	$67,500	4,700
34	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$105,750	$77,840	50
35	Database Administrators	$105,490	$67,830	180
36	Lawyers	$104,780	$65,550	1,660
37	Actuaries	$104,580	$64,900	460
38	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$104,370	$78,130	310
39	Credit Analysts	$103,770	$57,950	640
40	Sales Engineers	$102,800	$73,600	140
41	Electrical Engineers	$102,590	$65,940	190
42	Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales Representatives	$102,400	$58,350	700
43	Natural Sciences Managers	$102,300	$60,940	130
44	Fire Inspectors and Investigators	$101,880	$75,230	30
45	Computer Occupations, All Other	$101,310	$63,110	980
46	Training and Development Managers	$100,600	$72,840	160
47	Industrial Production Managers	$100,120	$63,770	410
48	Administrative Services Managers	$99,380	$65,460	430
49	Medical and Health Services Managers	$98,670	$69,990	1,330
50	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers	$97,010	$73,270	200
51	Engineers, All Other	$96,920	$62,130	100
52	Commercial Pilots	$96,670	$43,950	120
53	Veterinarians	$96,550	$64,420	220
54	Industrial Engineers	$96,500	$73,160	710
55	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$96,450	$51,430	80
56	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$96,010	$63,650	70
57	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$95,390	$53,030	80
58	Computer Systems Analysts	$94,980	$62,850	2,740
59	Construction Managers	$94,880	$59,000	500
60	Transportation Inspectors	$94,620	$30,440	40
61	Computer Programmers	$93,400	$62,210	380
62	Financial Risk Specialists	$93,300	$65,000	830
63	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$93,280	$59,150	130
64	Statisticians	$91,510	$53,460	140
65	Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers	$90,190	$60,440	40
66	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	$89,990	$66,170	490
67	Environmental Engineers	$88,510	$62,280	110
68	Other Biological Scientists	$87,530	$66,390	30
69	Postsecondary Education Administrators	$87,490	$49,950	370
70	Materials Engineers	$87,300	$69,530	40
71	Other Education Administrators	$87,220	$51,000	80
72	First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	$86,900	$51,180	840
73	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$85,900	$62,980	1,230
74	Computer Hardware Engineers	$85,700	$54,510	70
75	Facilities Managers	$85,460	$56,040	360
76	Gas Plant Operators	$84,800	$71,680	40
77	Financial Analysts	$84,630	$62,580	1,020
78	Civil Engineers	$83,930	$61,900	650
79	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$83,780	$54,150	390
80	Instructional Coordinators	$83,490	$62,420	790
81	Mechanical Engineers	$83,380	$57,520	480
82	General and Operations Managers	$83,030	$39,810	9,580
83	Loan Officers	$82,830	$51,050	1,080
84	Management Analysts	$82,440	$61,950	3,760
85	Project Management Specialists	$82,410	$51,830	1,810
86	Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners	$82,020	$48,290	60
87	Occupational Therapists	$81,880	$63,130	250
88	Architects (Except Landscape and Naval)	$81,850	$49,500	340
89	Labor Relations Specialists	$81,830	$17,790	190
90	Physical Therapists	$81,530	$66,600	520
91	Soil and Plant Scientists	$80,950	$52,100	370
92	Financial Examiners	$80,750	$48,620	780
93	First-Line Supervisors of Fire Fighting and Prevention Workers	$80,700	$36,540	130
94	Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists	$80,560	$58,770	50
95	Dental Hygienists	$80,500	$73,350	540
96	Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door	$80,390	$53,530	60
97	Budget Analysts	$79,910	$53,580	180
98	Postsecondary Health Specialties Teachers	$79,870	$37,650	290
99	Web and Digital Interface Designers	$79,660	$41,810	310
100	Other Financial Specialists	$79,610	$51,940	990

Table 2. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA – 2021 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Psychiatrists	$178,660
2	Chief Executives	$173,210
3	General Dentists	$154,640
4	Biochemists and Biophysicists	$141,080
5	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$134,100
6	Pharmacists	$131,120
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$129,780
8	Physician Assistants	$128,830
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$128,540
10	Optometrists	$127,710

Table 3. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA – 2020 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$200,600
2	Nurse Anesthetists	$198,660
3	General Dentists	$155,080
4	Sales Engineers	$146,510
5	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$133,970
6	Financial Managers	$127,200
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$126,140
8	All Other Personal Service Managers, Entertainment Managers, Except Gambling; and Managers	$125,440
9	Pharmacists	$125,360
10	Marketing Managers	$121,900

Table 4. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA – 2019 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$203,490
2	Nurse Anesthetists	$190,210
3	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$162,220
4	Sales Engineers	$141,880
5	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$130,740
6	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$126,770
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$124,980
8	Financial Managers	$120,310
9	Pharmacists	$119,350
10	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$116,290

Also see The most popular jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA.

Also see The most popular jobs in Iowa, The top paying jobs in Iowa.