creativemarc // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $84,180
- Median hourly wage: $40.47
- Total employment: 50 people (0.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Tuscaloosa
Despite recession fears and falling consumer confidence, the job market in the United States has remained relatively stable in 2025 thus far. According to May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, around 177,000 new jobs were added in April, a slight decrease from the 185,000 new jobs added in the month before, but an extension of the country's 52-month streak of job growth. Unemployment rates also held relatively steady between April 2024 and April 2025, coming in at around 4%.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have it easy in the workplace. A December 2024 Payscale report found that nearly half (47%) of business organizations struggle to balance fair pay practices with spend optimization, and 18% plan to reduce pay increases in 2025 as a result.
For context, median weekly earnings across all employees in the U.S. stood at $1,194 in the first quarter of 2025. This represents an increase of 4.8% from a year prior and exceeds the Consumer Price Index's 2.7% increase in the same time period. However, there's one caveat: Earnings go much further in some places than in others.
In fact, the very definition of a "high-paying" job varies by location, as well as other factors such as industry and benefits. Even a six-figure salary may be considered low-income in places with an unusually high cost of living. Meanwhile, technology, finance, and health care jobs lead in terms of salary, but benefits like remote work can make other lower-paying jobs more desirable.
Regardless, anyone seeking a high-paying job should start by looking at the numbers. Stacker used BLS data to find the 50 highest-paying jobs in Tuscaloosa. Jobs are ranked by their median annual pay as of May 2024, so any jobs without annual compensation figures available were excluded from this analysis.
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2 / 50#49. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $86,940
- Median hourly wage: $41.80
- Total employment: Not available
fizkes // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $87,000
- Median hourly wage: $41.83
- Total employment: 80 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VH-studio // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors
- Median annual wage: $87,340
- Median hourly wage: $41.99
- Total employment: 380 people (3.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
5 / 50#45. First-line supervisors of police and detectives (tie)
- Median annual wage: $87,500
- Median hourly wage: $42.07
- Total employment: 70 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Health specialties teachers, postsecondary (tie)
- Median annual wage: $87,500
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 150 people (1.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $87,540
- Median hourly wage: $42.09
- Total employment: 420 people (3.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
guruXOX // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Producers and directors
- Median annual wage: $87,920
- Median hourly wage: $42.27
- Total employment: 60 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $88,290
- Median hourly wage: $42.45
- Total employment: 240 people (2.19 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $89,110
- Median hourly wage: $42.84
- Total employment: 440 people (4.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Social scientists and related workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $91,690
- Median hourly wage: $44.08
- Total employment: 30 people (0.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $94,080
- Median hourly wage: $45.23
- Total employment: 50 people (0.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $96,530
- Median hourly wage: $46.41
- Total employment: 50 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $96,550
- Median hourly wage: $46.42
- Total employment: 40 people (0.33 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $97,130
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 160 people (1.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $97,430
- Median hourly wage: $46.84
- Total employment: 50 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $97,710
- Median hourly wage: $46.97
- Total employment: 120 people (1.11 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $97,830
- Median hourly wage: $47.03
- Total employment: 70 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $98,790
- Median hourly wage: $47.49
- Total employment: 240 people (2.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $99,170
- Median hourly wage: $47.68
- Total employment: 1,250 people (11.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $99,470
- Median hourly wage: $47.82
- Total employment: 150 people (1.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $99,680
- Median hourly wage: $47.93
- Total employment: 110 people (1.0 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $100,640
- Median hourly wage: $48.39
- Total employment: 120 people (1.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Undrey // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $101,690
- Median hourly wage: $48.89
- Total employment: Not available
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $102,840
- Median hourly wage: $49.44
- Total employment: 210 people (1.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $104,580
- Median hourly wage: $50.28
- Total employment: 40 people (0.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $105,530
- Median hourly wage: $50.73
- Total employment: 660 people (6.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Matej Kastelic // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Business teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $105,650
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 180 people (1.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $107,700
- Median hourly wage: $51.78
- Total employment: 60 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $107,760
- Median hourly wage: $51.81
- Total employment: 90 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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31 / 50#20. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $109,110
- Median hourly wage: $52.46
- Total employment: 50 people (0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Computer science teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $109,400
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 100 people (0.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $109,610
- Median hourly wage: $52.70
- Total employment: 260 people (2.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $110,030
- Median hourly wage: $52.90
- Total employment: 70 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $110,350
- Median hourly wage: $53.05
- Total employment: 50 people (0.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $110,360
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 120 people (1.11 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $111,620
- Median hourly wage: $53.66
- Total employment: 60 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $113,060
- Median hourly wage: $54.36
- Total employment: 190 people (1.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $113,820
- Median hourly wage: $54.72
- Total employment: 60 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $114,000
- Median hourly wage: $54.81
- Total employment: 120 people (1.09 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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41 / 50#10. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $123,850
- Median hourly wage: $59.54
- Total employment: 250 people (2.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $126,820
- Median hourly wage: $60.97
- Total employment: 220 people (2.05 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $130,720
- Median hourly wage: $62.85
- Total employment: 50 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $130,890
- Median hourly wage: $62.93
- Total employment: 340 people (3.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $133,880
- Median hourly wage: $64.37
- Total employment: 50 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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46 / 50#5. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $134,780
- Median hourly wage: $64.80
- Total employment: 80 people (0.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Syda Productions // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Economics teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $137,140
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 60 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Nurse anesthetists
- Median annual wage: $176,790
- Median hourly wage: $85.00
- Total employment: 80 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $189,590
- Median hourly wage: $91.15
- Total employment: 30 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Physicians, all other
- Median annual wage: $201,020
- Median hourly wage: $96.64
- Total employment: 200 people (1.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Cu Fleshman, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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