Roman Zaiets // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment
- Median annual wage: $91,790
- Median hourly wage: $44.13
- Total employment: 30 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Fairbanks
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 Fairbanks. 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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Vadim Ratnikov // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Earth drillers, except oil and gas
- Median annual wage: $92,240
- Median hourly wage: $44.34
- Total employment: 50 people (1.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $92,990
- Median hourly wage: $44.71
- Total employment: 90 people (2.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SritanaN // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Industrial machinery mechanics
- Median annual wage: $93,480
- Median hourly wage: $44.94
- Total employment: 90 people (2.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SatawatK // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers
- Median annual wage: $93,590
- Median hourly wage: $45.00
- Total employment: 50 people (1.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Electricians
- Median annual wage: $93,710
- Median hourly wage: $45.05
- Total employment: 270 people (7.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $94,610
- Median hourly wage: $45.49
- Total employment: 50 people (1.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Csomos Attila // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers
- Median annual wage: $94,630
- Median hourly wage: $45.50
- Total employment: 80 people (2.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
welcomia // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines
- Median annual wage: $94,760
- Median hourly wage: $45.56
- Total employment: 280 people (7.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
pio3 // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Police and sheriff's patrol officers
- Median annual wage: $95,590
- Median hourly wage: $45.96
- Total employment: 120 people (3.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
- Median annual wage: $96,290
- Median hourly wage: $46.29
- Total employment: 290 people (8.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $97,760
- Median hourly wage: $47.00
- Total employment: 80 people (2.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $98,200
- Median hourly wage: $47.21
- Total employment: 60 people (1.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kmpzzz // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Construction and building inspectors
- Median annual wage: $98,560
- Median hourly wage: $47.38
- Total employment: 40 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $98,890
- Median hourly wage: $47.54
- Total employment: 40 people (0.99 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Skycolors // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Commercial pilots
- Median annual wage: $100,190
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 60 people (1.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
sculpies // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
- Median annual wage: $100,410
- Median hourly wage: $48.27
- Total employment: 410 people (11.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Burben // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Air traffic controllers
- Median annual wage: $101,190
- Median hourly wage: $48.65
- Total employment: 80 people (2.33 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $101,500
- Median hourly wage: $48.80
- Total employment: 90 people (2.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $101,750
- Median hourly wage: $48.92
- Total employment: 120 people (3.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $102,300
- Median hourly wage: $49.18
- Total employment: 170 people (4.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $102,660
- Median hourly wage: $49.36
- Total employment: 720 people (19.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $104,030
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 60 people (1.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $104,160
- Median hourly wage: $50.08
- Total employment: 50 people (1.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $104,450
- Median hourly wage: $50.22
- Total employment: 40 people (1.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $104,560
- Median hourly wage: $50.27
- Total employment: 40 people (0.99 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $104,600
- Median hourly wage: $50.29
- Total employment: 220 people (6.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $106,930
- Median hourly wage: $51.41
- Total employment: 100 people (2.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $108,040
- Median hourly wage: $51.94
- Total employment: 40 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $109,980
- Median hourly wage: $52.87
- Total employment: 40 people (0.99 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $110,560
- Median hourly wage: $53.15
- Total employment: 630 people (17.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $112,150
- Median hourly wage: $53.92
- Total employment: 80 people (2.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $112,900
- Median hourly wage: $54.28
- Total employment: 180 people (5.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $117,060
- Median hourly wage: $56.28
- Total employment: 40 people (1.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $117,360
- Median hourly wage: $56.42
- Total employment: 200 people (5.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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VE.Studio // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $118,180
- Median hourly wage: $56.82
- Total employment: 60 people (1.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $122,120
- Median hourly wage: $58.71
- Total employment: 50 people (1.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $123,320
- Median hourly wage: $59.29
- Total employment: 60 people (1.61 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $123,950
- Median hourly wage: $59.59
- Total employment: 90 people (2.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $124,590
- Median hourly wage: $59.90
- Total employment: 170 people (4.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $127,140
- Median hourly wage: $61.13
- Total employment: 40 people (1.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $129,820
- Median hourly wage: $62.41
- Total employment: 50 people (1.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $130,110
- Median hourly wage: $62.55
- Total employment: 100 people (2.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $133,480
- Median hourly wage: $64.17
- Total employment: 70 people (1.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $133,780
- Median hourly wage: $64.32
- Total employment: 180 people (4.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $137,300
- Median hourly wage: $66.01
- Total employment: 90 people (2.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $139,110
- Median hourly wage: $66.88
- Total employment: 50 people (1.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $157,860
- Median hourly wage: $75.90
- Total employment: 70 people (2.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $167,100
- Median hourly wage: $80.34
- Total employment: 50 people (1.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Physicians, all other
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 30 people (0.97 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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