Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Minnesota

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota are those of nurse anesthetists, with an average annual salary of $222,400. The second highest-paying jobs are those of ophthalmologist except pediatric, with an average salary of $218,330.

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

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	Nurse Anesthetists	$222,400	$172,900	2,460
2	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$218,330	$95,700	280
3	General Pediatricians	$213,860	$133,780	930
4	Podiatrists	$213,400	$85,120	180
5	Other Specialists Dentists	$210,000	$97,070	110
6	Family Medicine Physicians	$206,180	$101,000	2,840
7	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$188,610	$123,420	790
8	Other Physical Scientists	$173,770	$129,380	580
9	General Dentists	$172,510	$92,570	2,050
10	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$169,250	$118,560	570
11	Chief Executives	$167,540	$81,160	7,270
12	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$160,960	$106,850	4,080
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$158,280	$99,500	8,920
14	Air Traffic Controllers	$156,870	$75,820	550
15	Marketing Managers	$156,330	$85,000	7,750
16	Optometrists	$150,110	$94,590	870
17	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons	$140,780	$98,840	40
18	Lawyers	$137,360	$75,370	10,750
19	Pharmacists	$137,190	$110,610	6,630
20	Physicists	$134,560	$66,050	90
21	Natural Sciences Managers	$133,850	$84,840	1,120
22	Financial Managers	$133,040	$80,580	14,990
23	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$132,930	$88,570	390
24	Human Resources Managers	$132,900	$79,640	3,710
25	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$132,650	$49,400	110
26	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$132,480	$100,390	2,680
27	Sales Managers	$132,150	$75,320	9,240
28	All Other Managers	$131,230	$73,990	5,740
29	Petroleum Engineers	$130,520	$75,700	110
30	Computer Network Architects	$129,790	$83,420	2,590
31	Aerospace Engineers	$129,070	$65,560	350
32	Nurse Practitioners	$128,020	$102,230	5,300
33	Purchasing Managers	$125,610	$87,270	1,550
34	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$124,850	$75,870	160
35	Other Life Scientists	$124,800	$63,450	350
36	Physician Assistants	$124,440	$102,010	3,530
37	Public Relations Managers	$123,670	$78,760	1,060
38	Database Architects	$121,820	$83,710	580
39	Commercial Pilots	$121,600	$67,990	1,090
40	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors	$120,180	$74,500	490
41	Administrative Services Managers	$119,700	$76,750	5,580
42	Nurse Midwives	$115,210	$102,060	340
43	Atmospheric and Space Scientists	$111,400	$77,220	40
44	Training and Development Managers	$111,300	$70,540	710
45	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$111,230	$82,340	40
46	Software Developers	$110,600	$74,520	36,360
47	Information Security Analysts	$109,760	$71,920	2,650
48	Elementary and Secondary School Education Administrators	$109,400	$69,100	3,880
49	Data Scientists	$106,920	$77,090	1,600
50	Computer Hardware Engineers	$106,770	$81,530	390
51	Actuaries	$106,350	$79,310	910
52	Mining and Geological Engineers	$106,160	$79,800	100
53	Medical Dosimetrists	$106,060	$79,040	100
54	Computer Systems Analysts	$105,610	$65,350	13,380
55	Biomedical Engineers	$105,060	$68,860	870
56	Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay	$104,670	$84,660	210
57	Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers	$104,550	$72,240	580
58	Postsecondary Engineering Teachers	$104,150	$63,220	590
59	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers	$104,000	$66,870	100
60	Industrial Production Managers	$103,950	$69,890	5,140
61	Engineers, All Other	$103,860	$69,210	1,430
62	Funeral Home Managers	$103,830	$48,030	200
63	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$103,790	$66,140	2,120
64	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$103,460	$65,360	2,780
65	All Other Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners	$103,460	$63,950	530
66	Medical and Health Services Managers	$102,560	$74,080	9,630
67	Veterinarians	$102,380	$72,200	1,690
68	Hoist and Winch Operators	$101,730	$51,550	80
69	Power Plant Operators	$101,390	$63,230	560
70	Other Education Administrators	$100,790	$57,260	900
71	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$100,510	$50,050	1,130
72	Electrical Engineers	$100,340	$66,540	3,510
73	Financial Risk Specialists	$99,950	$65,450	1,770
74	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	$99,540	$61,870	2,070
75	Fundraising Managers	$99,210	$66,930	530
76	Art Directors	$99,150	$58,950	1,080
77	Construction Managers	$98,730	$66,140	5,310
78	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$98,580	$61,460	320
79	Postsecondary Physics Teachers	$98,210	$58,800	250
80	Elevator Installers and Repairers	$98,180	$46,500	470
81	Nuclear Medicine Technologists	$98,160	$81,430	250
82	Postsecondary Education Administrators	$97,820	$62,210	2,010
83	Computer Occupations, All Other	$97,130	$39,930	4,310
84	Audiologists	$97,090	$74,990	500
85	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$96,970	$63,620	5,660
86	Environmental Science Teachers	$96,370	$60,410	120
87	Postsecondary Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers	$96,320	$65,980	110
88	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers	$96,180	$68,950	1,570
89	Industrial Engineers	$96,150	$61,790	15,530
90	Postsecondary Political Science Teachers	$96,120	$63,610	210
91	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$96,090	$70,670	810
92	Management Analysts	$95,990	$58,510	21,180
93	Facilities Managers	$94,590	$60,980	2,550
94	Database Administrators	$94,440	$57,930	1,460
95	Postsecondary Architecture Teachers	$94,340	$63,680	120
96	Boilermakers	$93,850	$87,120	90
97	Economists	$93,660	$56,440	220
98	Gaming Managers	$93,600	$55,460	110
99	Power Distributors and Dispatchers	$92,820	$65,990	170
100	Mechanical Insulation Workers	$92,280	$58,510	710

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Chief Executives	$180,610
2	Other Physical Scientists	$173,770
3	Other Specialists Dentists	$168,650
4	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$165,120
5	General Dentists	$163,210
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$154,690
7	Air Traffic Controllers	$152,480
8	Marketing Managers	$152,350
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$151,870
10	Physicists	$136,600

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Nurse Anesthetists	$207,180
2	General Dentists	$200,630
3	Other Specialists Dentists	$190,820
4	Chief Executives	$181,550
5	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$157,040
6	Air Traffic Controllers	$151,420
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$146,700
8	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$145,840
9	Podiatrists	$144,210
10	Marketing Managers	$144,120

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

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	General Pediatricians	$206,040
2	General Dentists	$192,960
3	Nurse Anesthetists	$187,210
4	Chief Executives	$177,460
5	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$164,050
6	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$158,960
7	Podiatrists	$158,470
8	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$143,390
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$142,390
10	Air Traffic Controllers	$141,360

Also see The most popular jobs in Minnesota.