Top 100 highest-paying jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA, 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 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA are those of obstetricians and gynecologists, with an average annual salary of $238,550. The second highest-paying jobs are those of chief executive, with an average salary of $232,860.

All of the shown salary and employment information for San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 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 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Table 1. Top 100 highest-paying jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA (2022 survey)

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$238,550	$126,150	190
2	Chief Executives	$232,860	$99,610	2,830
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$225,850	$91,100	1,550
4	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$223,830	$191,350	150
5	General Pediatricians	$213,940	$161,730	190
6	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$212,710	$110,350	200
7	Podiatrists	$209,530	$115,490	40
8	Commercial Divers	$182,000	$38,400	50
9	Natural Sciences Managers	$181,380	$116,900	2,920
10	Nurse Anesthetists	$173,390	$162,400	90
11	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$171,340	$109,200	7,370
12	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$171,070	$125,240	3,950
13	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$169,980	$31,360	80
14	Lawyers	$168,360	$79,930	7,900
15	Computer Hardware Engineers	$168,240	$105,890	4,480
16	Marketing Managers	$163,560	$84,560	4,100
17	Psychiatrists	$162,720	$155,690	470
18	Financial Managers	$157,170	$83,750	8,040
19	Nurse Practitioners	$157,150	$104,180	2,030
20	Pharmacists	$155,460	$127,520	2,740
21	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$154,980	$84,520	400
22	All Other Managers	$150,480	$80,270	9,540
23	Human Resources Managers	$150,160	$82,400	2,290
24	Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators	$142,260	$48,500	130
25	Purchasing Managers	$142,070	$87,190	850
26	Postsecondary Education Teachers	$139,780	$41,960	520
27	Power Distributors and Dispatchers	$139,290	$77,480	160
28	Postsecondary Health Specialties Teachers	$139,150	$68,830	1,100
29	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$138,150	$82,240	980
30	Physicists	$138,150	$81,480	200
31	Software Developers	$138,130	$85,900	17,380
32	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers	$137,740	$109,820	120
33	Nurse Midwives	$137,620	$51,430	80
34	Postsecondary Engineering Teachers	$137,490	$61,520	340
35	Other Specialists Dentists	$136,720	$219,440	150
36	Radiation Therapists	$135,310	$111,030	100
37	Postsecondary Biological Science Teachers	$135,230	$67,090	420
38	Database Architects	$134,990	$61,730	400
39	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$134,050	$82,690	3,200
40	Public Relations Managers	$133,930	$80,450	580
41	Mathematicians	$133,400	$85,100	60
42	Computer Programmers	$132,900	$78,430	3,690
43	Postsecondary Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers	$132,670	$66,340	100
44	General Dentists	$131,970	$29,120	1,190
45	Actuaries	$131,400	$81,340	50
46	Physician Assistants	$130,980	$91,340	1,550
47	Elementary and Secondary School Education Administrators	$130,340	$80,700	1,810
48	Commercial Pilots	$130,040	$62,830	490
49	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$129,930	$77,580	190
50	Postsecondary Computer Science Teachers	$129,870	$41,960	250
51	Postsecondary Business Teachers	$129,650	$41,960	460
52	Postsecondary Physics Teachers	$129,400	$64,710	130
53	Training and Development Managers	$128,510	$78,680	540
54	Medical and Health Services Managers	$128,080	$62,070	4,900
55	Industrial Production Managers	$126,590	$73,170	2,320
56	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$125,720	$48,710	860
57	Computer Network Architects	$125,460	$74,090	1,420
58	Sales Managers	$125,410	$54,080	8,840
59	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$125,210	$77,030	170
60	Statisticians	$124,730	$69,090	440
61	Data Scientists	$123,570	$67,030	2,020
62	Electrical Engineers	$122,820	$75,830	2,800
63	Postsecondary Foreign Language and Literature Teachers	$122,600	$41,960	170
64	Economists	$122,410	$61,630	80
65	Nuclear Medicine Technologists	$122,300	$94,100	140
66	Other Postsecondary Social Sciences Teachers	$121,560	$60,150	140
67	Veterinarians	$121,040	$61,560	870
68	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors	$118,780	$80,130	250
69	Registered Nurses	$118,270	$63,570	28,890
70	Other Psychologists	$116,900	$51,850	250
71	Sales Engineers	$116,830	$75,020	640
72	Aerospace Engineers	$116,190	$63,650	1,780
73	Postsecondary Mathematical Science Teachers	$115,720	$66,470	390
74	Information Security Analysts	$114,350	$66,160	1,150
75	Database Administrators	$113,340	$56,240	640
76	Other Physical Scientists	$112,670	$94,750	300
77	Fundraising Managers	$112,650	$70,720	310
78	Art Directors	$112,390	$67,690	580
79	School Psychologists	$111,380	$64,480	750
80	Diagnostic Medical Sonographers	$111,020	$79,960	620
81	Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists	$110,420	$77,680	230
82	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$110,180	$61,710	2,950
83	Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales Representatives	$109,550	$58,150	2,830
84	Postsecondary Political Science Teachers	$108,980	$38,410	110
85	Postsecondary Chemistry Teachers	$108,570	$64,210	230
86	Multimedia Artists and Animators	$108,340	$68,980	460
87	Postsecondary Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers	$108,270	$66,020	170
88	Computer Systems Analysts	$107,760	$70,240	4,880
89	Postsecondary Communications Teachers	$107,560	$54,040	250
90	Biochemists and Biophysicists	$107,490	$74,550	1,890
91	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	$107,240	$74,570	2,800
92	Postsecondary History Teachers	$107,090	$41,960	150
93	Environmental Engineers	$106,530	$72,740	730
94	Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners	$106,270	$72,110	100
95	All Other Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners	$106,270	$74,570	190
96	Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers	$106,250	$60,660	60
97	Optometrists	$106,080	$103,880	600
98	Engineers, All Other	$106,070	$72,800	3,970
99	Computer Occupations, All Other	$105,990	$50,790	7,620
100	Postsecondary Sociology Teachers	$105,970	$63,690	90

Table 2. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA – 2021 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Chief Executives	$193,010
2	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$178,710
3	Natural Sciences Managers	$177,270
4	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$172,130
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$165,920
6	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$165,350
7	Computer Hardware Engineers	$164,980
8	Pharmacists	$159,700
9	Commercial Divers	$158,660
10	Postsecondary Health Specialties Teachers	$156,870

Table 3. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA – 2020 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Natural Sciences Managers	$183,700
2	Optometrists	$182,760
3	Podiatrists	$166,660
4	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$166,320
5	Psychiatrists	$162,720
6	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$162,370
7	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$161,420
8	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$153,160
9	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$151,870
10	Postsecondary Biological Science Teachers	$150,790

Table 4. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA – 2019 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$203,970
2	All Other Physicians; and Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$199,150
3	Psychiatrists	$183,270
4	Optometrists	$181,050
5	Natural Sciences Managers	$168,930
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$159,960
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$156,440
8	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$155,670
9	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$149,270
10	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$147,620

Also see The most popular jobs in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA.

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