The highest paying job in Massachusetts is Dentists, All Other Specialists, with a median salary of $235,410 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in MA based on 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024
Ranked by median annual salary. Click any job to see the full salary breakdown including percentile data and state-by-state comparisons.
| Rank | Occupation | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentists, All Other Specialists | $235,410 | $218,190 | N/A |
| 2 | Neurologists | $234,660 | $267,580 | 290 |
| 3 | Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $221,710 | $204,240 | 600 |
| 4 | Psychiatrists | $221,160 | $239,350 | 1,210 |
| 5 | Natural Sciences Managers | $218,800 | $229,780 | 8,880 |
| 6 | Physicians, All Other | $216,170 | $221,670 | 7,890 |
| 7 | Pediatricians, General | $213,230 | $235,000 | 2,980 |
| 8 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $203,300 | $205,090 | 25,640 |
| 9 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | $193,200 | $307,820 | 200 |
| 10 | Marketing Manager | $192,480 | $200,400 | 13,520 |
| 11 | Astronomers | $189,430 | $156,870 | 70 |
| 12 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $181,910 | $190,710 | 670 |
| 13 | Financial Manager | $181,170 | $204,840 | 27,690 |
| 14 | Lawyer | $179,050 | $218,340 | 22,020 |
| 15 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $178,800 | $194,040 | 8,210 |
| 16 | Human Resources Manager | $176,510 | $195,340 | 6,730 |
| 17 | Managers, All Other | $172,380 | $185,060 | 10,670 |
| 18 | Sales Manager | $170,610 | $189,290 | 13,950 |
| 19 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $170,570 | $174,290 | 3,350 |
| 20 | Public Relations Managers | $169,760 | $171,110 | 2,560 |
| 21 | Purchasing Managers | $168,890 | $176,990 | 2,370 |
| 22 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $166,910 | $175,700 | 1,800 |
| 23 | Law Teachers, Postsecondary | $164,000 | $174,240 | 910 |
| 24 | Database Architects | $161,160 | $161,000 | 1,720 |
| 25 | Nurse Midwives | $155,710 | $165,820 | 190 |
Average Salary in Massachusetts · All Massachusetts Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in Massachusetts are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Dentists, All Other Specialists, pays $155,198 more than the state average of $80,211 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $155,710, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how Massachusetts's top salaries compare to other states.
Rankings are based on median annual salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 estimates. We use median rather than mean salary because it better represents typical earnings and is less affected by outliers.
Only occupations with state-level data published by BLS are included. Some specialized or rare occupations may not have data for every state. For full methodology details, see our Methodology page.