The highest paying job in North Dakota is Nurse Anesthetists, with a median salary of $232,420 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in ND 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 | Nurse Anesthetists | $232,420 | $229,180 | 250 |
| 2 | Pediatricians, General | $225,250 | $229,600 | 120 |
| 3 | Dentists, General | $201,280 | $224,300 | 210 |
| 4 | Chief Executives | $171,310 | $232,120 | 370 |
| 5 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $140,560 | $147,470 | 300 |
| 6 | Physical Scientists, All Other | $138,430 | $124,770 | N/A |
| 7 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $136,300 | $138,830 | 650 |
| 8 | Pharmacist | $135,570 | $125,790 | 980 |
| 9 | Natural Sciences Managers | $133,540 | $139,210 | 120 |
| 10 | Petroleum Engineers | $130,090 | $130,170 | 190 |
| 11 | Financial Manager | $130,070 | $151,000 | 1,960 |
| 12 | Optometrists | $128,940 | $130,840 | 180 |
| 13 | Chemical Engineers | $127,970 | $127,230 | 60 |
| 14 | Human Resources Manager | $127,190 | $134,940 | 250 |
| 15 | Physician Assistants | $126,180 | $118,300 | 520 |
| 16 | Purchasing Managers | $125,720 | $129,220 | 40 |
| 17 | Sales Manager | $124,500 | $137,560 | 400 |
| 18 | Marketing Manager | $123,460 | $132,020 | 240 |
| 19 | Nurse Practitioners | $123,220 | $121,200 | 1,260 |
| 20 | Air Traffic Controllers | $121,470 | $117,150 | 80 |
| 21 | Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $119,610 | $117,380 | 430 |
| 22 | Fundraising Managers | $118,420 | $126,670 | 40 |
| 23 | Managers, All Other | $118,010 | $123,190 | 2,020 |
| 24 | Database Architects | $116,120 | $112,830 | 50 |
| 25 | Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay | $116,010 | $111,480 | 60 |
Average Salary in North Dakota · All North Dakota Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in North Dakota are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Nurse Anesthetists, pays $165,376 more than the state average of $67,043 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $116,010, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how North Dakota'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.