The 30 Best High-Paying Jobs of the Future

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released job projections predicting how employment in various occupations could change between 2019 and 2029.

By Andy Kiersz and Madison Hoff

Stephen Lam/Getty Images via BI

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

The novel coronavirus pandemic has had a major effect on employment in nearly every industry over the past few months. However, the future of work is still looking pretty bright for medical and tech jobs, based on data and projections from the US Labor Department.

As Americans look forward to finding their next potential job, Business Insider decided to look at high-paying jobs that have bright futures ahead of them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Projections program publishes estimates for job growth across hundreds of occupations. The most recent release came out this month and compares how many people worked in each occupation in 2019 with the Bureau's projections for 2029.

We combined those job growth projections with 2019 median annual earnings for each occupation from the Bureau's Occupational Employment Statistics program, using the geometric mean of the two numbers, to find roles that are both growing and high-paying.

Since we are focused on high-paying jobs, we restricted our ranking to occupations with 2019 median earnings above the median among all occupations of $39,810.

Here are the 30 best jobs of the next decade or so:

30. Marketing managers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 19,100

Median annual earnings in 2019: $136,850

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

29. Industrial engineers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 30,000

Median annual earnings in 2019: $88,020

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

28. Computer user support specialists

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 54,800

Median annual earnings in 2019: $52,270

Typical educational requirements: Some college, no degree

27. Human resources specialists

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 46,900

Median annual earnings in 2019: $61,920

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

26. Elementary school teachers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 51,400

Median annual earnings in 2019: $59,670

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

25. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 65,700

Median annual earnings in 2019: $47,480

Typical educational requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award

24. Speech-language pathologists

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 40,500

Median annual earnings in 2019: $79,120

Typical educational requirements: Master's degree

23. Industrial machinery mechanics

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 62,300

Median annual earnings in 2019: $53,590

Typical educational requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

22. Electricians

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 62,200

Median annual earnings in 2019: $56,180

Typical educational requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

21. Sales representatives of services (except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel)

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 64,200

Median annual earnings in 2019: $56,130

Typical educational requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

20. Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 79,000

Median annual earnings in 2019: $46,240

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

19. Ophthalmologists (except pediatric) and all other physicians

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 18,500

Median annual earnings in 2019: $206,500

Typical educational requirements: Doctoral or professional degree

18. Construction managers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 40,400

Median annual earnings in 2019: $95,260

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

17. Lawyers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 32,300

Median annual earnings in 2019: $122,960

Typical educational requirements: Doctoral or professional degree

16. Information security analysts

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 40,900

Median annual earnings in 2019: $99,730

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

15. Physical therapists

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 47,000

Median annual earnings in 2019: $89,440

Typical educational requirements: Doctoral or professional degree

14. Computer systems analysts

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 46,600

Median annual earnings in 2019: $90,920

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

13. Physician assistants

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 39,300

Median annual earnings in 2019: $112,260

Typical educational requirements: Master's degree

12. Accountants and auditors

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 61,700

Median annual earnings in 2019: $71,550

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

11. Postsecondary health specialties teachers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 52,100

Median annual earnings in 2019: $97,320

Typical educational requirements: Doctoral or professional degree

10. All other project management specialists and business operations specialists

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 79,800

Median annual earnings in 2019: $73,570

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

9. Computer and information systems managers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 48,100

Median annual earnings in 2019: $146,360

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

8. Management analysts

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 93,800

Median annual earnings in 2019: $85,260

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

7. Market research analysts and marketing specialists

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 130,300

Median annual earnings in 2019: $63,790

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

6. Nurse practitioner

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 110,700

Median annual earnings in 2019: $109,820

Typical educational requirements: Master's degree

5. Medical and health services managers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 133,200

Median annual earnings in 2019: $100,980

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

4. Financial managers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 108,100

Median annual earnings in 2019: $129,890

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

3. General and operations managers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 143,800

Median annual earnings in 2019: $100,780

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

2. Registered nurses

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 221,900

Median annual earnings in 2019: $73,300

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

1. Software developers and software quality assurance analysts and testers

Projected new positions between 2019 and 2029: 316,000

Median annual earnings in 2019: $107,510

Typical educational requirements: Bachelor's degree

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