When it comes to salaries, Florida has a few things going for it. It has no state income tax, and the annual average salary of the best paying job in the Sunshine State ranks sixth out of 50 states. The highest-paying job in Florida — anesthesiologists — has an annual mean wage of $363,570. That’s better than the corresponding national average of $331,190 for the same occupation.
To understand the highest-paying jobs in Florida and other states, Credit Karma compiled and analyzed a variety of publicly available datasets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Just like in many states across the nation, the five highest-paying jobs in Florida are all in medicine, specifically specialist doctors:
- Anesthesiologists: $363,570
- Cardiologists: $359,420
- Radiologists: $318,530
- Emergency medicine physicians: $313,590
- Physicians, pathologists: $251,220
But there are other high-paying jobs within other occupational areas in Florida. Read on for details.
Highest-paying jobs in Florida
In Florida, as in almost every single state, jobs in the “healthcare practitioners and technical” occupations group — doctors, specifically — comprise the top five highest-paying jobs.
This table lists the highest-paying jobs in each of the BLS’s major occupational groups.
| Major Occupational Group | Occupation Title | Annual Mean Wage |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare practitioners and technical | Anesthesiologists | $363,570 |
| Transportation and material moving | Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers | $232,600 |
| Management | Chief executives | $215,050 |
| Life, Physical and social science | Physicists | $162,600 |
| Architecture and engineering | Petroleum engineers | $147,420 |
| Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media | Athletes and sports competitors | $143,270 |
| Educational Instruction and library | Health specialties teachers (postsecondary) | $133,510 |
| Computer and mathematical | Computer and information research scientists | $132,170 |
| Legal | Lawyers | $129,390 |
| Business and financial operations | Agents and business managers of artists, performers and athletes | $106,940 |
| Sales and related | Sales engineers | $106,620 |
| Protective service Occupations | First-line supervisors of police and detectives |
$94,710 |
| Production | Power distributors and dispatchers | $81,800 |
| Construction and extraction | Elevator and escalator installers and repairers | $79,260 |
| Installation, maintenance and repair | Electrical power line installers and repairers | $66,400 |
| Healthcare support | Occupational therapy assistants | $65,370 |
| Community and social service | Health education specialists | $64,840 |
| Office and administrative support | First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers | $61,050 |
| Food preparation and serving | Chefs and head cooks | $58,850 |
| Personal care and service | Morticians, undertakers and funeral arrangers | $58,190 |
| Farming, fishing and forestry | First-line supervisors of farming, fishing and forestry workers | $56,000 |
| Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance | First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service and groundskeeping workers | $49,530 |
Flying aircraft — airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers — is the highest-paying job in the “transportation and material moving” occupations group with an average annual income in Florida of $232,600. That’s much better than the U.S. average, which is $198,190.
In fact, many of the highest-paying jobs in Florida beat their national counterparts in salary. For example, physicists in Florida earn an average of $162,600, compared to the national average of $151,580.
Some high-paying jobs in Florida, however, fall below the national benchmark.
For instance, Florida’s highest paying job in “legal” occupations is lawyers. They pull in an average of $129,390 a year in Florida, compared to the national average of $148,030 a year. Another example is sales engineers. This is the highest-paying job in the “sales and related” occupations group in 29 out of 50 states. In Florida, the average annual income for a sales engineer is $106,620, versus a national average $118,630.
Other notable high-paying jobs in Florida
More findings from this study that are unique to Florida include:
- Agents and business managers of artists, performers and athletes: This job falls under the “business and financial operations” occupations category. In 37 out of 50 states, the highest-paying job in this category is personal financial advisors. Florida is unusual in having agents and business managers of artists, performers and athletes as the top-paying career in this occupational group, with a mean annual wage of $106,940.
- Athletes and sports competitors: Florida has a lot of cities with professional sports teams — Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa and Orlando, for example — which helps explain why this job ranks as the highest-paying job in the “arts, design, entertainment, sports and media” occupations category.
- Health education specialists: This career falls under “community and social service” occupations category. Health education specialist is the highest-paying job in the this occupational group in eight states, including Florida. In the Sunshine State, this job earns an average annual wage of $64,840.
High-paying jobs and taxes in Florida
While Florida has its share of high paying jobs, several occupations earn average wages that fall below their corresponding national averages.
A big consolation, however, is that Florida has no state income tax. Not having state income taxes taken out of your salary means your paycheck, even if it’s less than the national average, can go a bit further in Florida than in other places with individual income taxes.
Our cost of living calculator can help you get a sense how far your salary may — or may not — go in different cities across Florida.
Methodology
To identify the highest-paying jobs in Florida, we analyzed all U.S. states, then scored and ranked jobs based on the following criteria:
- Annual mean wage for occupations, with occupations chosen based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) that categorizes an occupational level as “detailed”; other SOC occupation levels such as “major”, “minor”, and “broad” were excluded for being too general in their occupational title.
- Hourly mean wage for occupations, with occupations chosen based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) that categorizes an occupational level as “detailed”; other SOC occupation levels such as “major”, “minor”, and “broad” were excluded for being too general in their occupational title.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics – Occupational Employment Statistics – May 2021