Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Louisiana

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in Louisiana, 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 Louisiana are those of general internal medicine physician, with an average annual salary of $232,830. The second highest-paying jobs are those of podiatrists, with an average salary of $224,660.

All of the shown salary and employment information for Louisiana 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 Louisiana in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Table 1. Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Louisiana (2022 survey)

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$232,830	$141,940	470
2	Podiatrists	$224,660	$74,410	90
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$217,030	$53,100	360
4	Psychiatrists	$214,990	$53,920	70
5	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons	$202,070	$73,580	0
6	Other Specialists Dentists	$189,990	$50,760	80
7	Nurse Anesthetists	$183,780	$79,780	930
8	General Pediatricians	$182,140	$107,210	260
9	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$162,550	$103,200	1,080
10	Chief Executives	$161,770	$46,930	410
11	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$160,270	$102,010	110
12	Actuaries	$139,490	$83,340	50
13	Radiologists	$136,680	$69,330	60
14	Hydrologic Technicians	$135,410	$46,220	110
15	General Dentists	$134,060	$64,840	920
16	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$132,580	$67,190	140
17	Petroleum Engineers	$131,560	$103,280	860
18	Chemical Engineers	$131,220	$83,780	660
19	Industrial Production Managers	$129,340	$79,260	1,890
20	Pharmacists	$127,730	$74,460	5,010
21	Postsecondary Architecture Teachers	$126,020	$62,920	120
22	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors	$125,150	$76,870	320
23	Industrial Engineers	$123,320	$75,440	2,120
24	Optometrists	$122,420	$85,620	290
25	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$121,760	$73,640	2,100
26	Nurse Midwives	$121,530	$109,110	40
27	Nurse Practitioners	$115,620	$81,550	4,280
28	Physician Assistants	$115,400	$92,050	1,830
29	Commercial Pilots	$114,460	$65,980	1,050
30	Database Administrators	$113,200	$58,280	610
31	Sales Managers	$109,670	$61,750	3,320
32	Lawyers	$107,550	$57,680	8,650
33	Financial Managers	$105,010	$65,420	7,050
34	Postsecondary Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers	$104,400	$75,970	30
35	Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels	$103,530	$52,550	6,530
36	Software Developers	$102,670	$63,850	2,930
37	Marketing Managers	$102,000	$61,020	800
38	Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians	$101,300	$38,780	80
39	General and Operations Managers	$100,770	$50,730	38,910
40	Aerospace Engineers	$100,650	$73,510	100
41	Mechanical Engineers	$100,300	$62,250	1,450
42	Natural Sciences Managers	$99,990	$70,700	320
43	Civil Engineers	$99,940	$62,870	2,380
44	Construction Managers	$99,840	$66,810	4,330
45	Financial Examiners	$99,620	$60,490	150
46	Purchasing Managers	$99,040	$63,750	430
47	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$99,030	$28,510	100
48	Medical and Health Services Managers	$98,760	$60,310	6,070
49	Postsecondary Engineering Teachers	$98,620	$50,630	280
50	Veterinarians	$98,570	$67,450	760
51	Physical Therapists	$97,960	$60,800	2,910
52	Electrical Engineers	$97,660	$63,240	1,200
53	Elevator Installers and Repairers	$97,530	$43,830	300
54	Human Resources Managers	$96,690	$64,700	1,540
55	Engineers, All Other	$96,610	$52,790	7,440
56	Atmospheric and Space Scientists	$96,050	$46,220	90
57	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$95,760	$51,950	120
58	All Other Managers	$95,710	$51,910	15,740
59	Postsecondary Education Administrators	$95,570	$56,640	3,590
60	Geographers	$95,220	$51,570	30
61	Mechanical Engineering Technicians	$94,790	$40,450	350
62	Occupational Therapists	$94,280	$61,270	1,800
63	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$93,750	$49,520	340
64	Industrial Engineering Technicians	$93,490	$64,910	520
65	Facilities Managers	$93,120	$51,800	840
66	Biomedical Engineers	$92,630	$92,040	60
67	Sales Engineers	$92,570	$40,980	80
68	Administrative Services Managers	$91,310	$53,500	2,250
69	Materials Engineers	$91,200	$75,850	130
70	Computer Network Architects	$90,340	$54,710	290
71	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$89,350	$64,000	140
72	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$89,250	$51,610	140
73	Other Physical Scientists	$88,840	$50,030	290
74	Air Traffic Controllers	$88,770	$71,220	240
75	Public Relations Managers	$88,170	$54,390	230
76	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$87,950	$48,470	1,380
77	Training and Development Managers	$87,930	$60,740	270
78	Ship Engineers	$87,550	$61,050	920
79	Transportation Inspectors	$87,390	$41,520	220
80	Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales Representatives	$87,370	$44,340	1,420
81	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$87,300	$78,720	130
82	Soil and Plant Scientists	$87,300	$49,900	60
83	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$86,160	$55,250	230
84	Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers	$85,670	$50,120	4,320
85	Information Security Analysts	$85,580	$56,380	480
86	Environmental Engineers	$85,220	$45,600	490
87	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$85,160	$68,720	830
88	Emergency Management Directors	$84,710	$57,910	80
89	Management Analysts	$83,690	$54,720	3,490
90	Computer Hardware Engineers	$83,290	$50,880	330
91	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents	$82,760	$75,230	250
92	Chemical Plant and System Operators	$82,570	$50,680	3,150
93	Postsecondary Physics Teachers	$82,030	$52,540	100
94	Power Distributors and Dispatchers	$81,910	$40,790	40
95	Computer Systems Analysts	$81,910	$54,710	2,270
96	Foresters	$81,660	$56,530	60
97	Postsecondary Political Science Teachers	$81,570	$53,210	50
98	Architects (Except Landscape and Naval)	$80,660	$39,940	1,090
99	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$80,060	$53,180	1,500
100	Dental Hygienists	$80,030	$55,840	2,020

Table 2. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Louisiana – 2021 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Nurse Anesthetists	$168,450
2	Podiatrists	$163,700
3	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$162,060
4	Chief Executives	$152,020
5	Power Distributors and Dispatchers	$129,900
6	Petroleum Engineers	$128,730
7	Chemical Engineers	$127,850
8	Pharmacists	$127,240
9	Industrial Production Managers	$121,230
10	General Dentists	$121,020

Table 3. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Louisiana – 2020 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$195,210
2	Chief Executives	$194,250
3	Athletes and Sports Competitors	$186,700
4	Physicists	$167,380
5	Nurse Anesthetists	$163,350
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$155,170
7	Podiatrists	$142,900
8	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$127,820
9	Pharmacists	$125,500
10	Industrial Production Managers	$121,990

Table 4. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Louisiana – 2019 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Chief Executives	$203,870
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$187,970
3	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$187,320
4	All Other Physicians; and Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$180,490
5	Nurse Anesthetists	$157,610
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$150,180
7	Physicists	$147,570
8	General Dentists	$129,080
9	Podiatrists	$128,430
10	Pharmacists	$123,440

Also see The most popular jobs in Louisiana.