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1 / 50#50. Elementary school teachers, except special education
- Median annual wage: $58,120
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 1,220 people (10.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Ocala that require a bachelor's degree
Between rising tuition and a tight job market, getting a bachelor's degree is an increasingly daunting prospect these days. Per a May 2024 Pew Research Center survey, just 1 in 4 adults believe a college degree is necessary to secure a high-paying job.
Many second-guess the value of college because of the cost. For the 2024-2025 school year, annual tuition and fees averaged more than $11,600 at in-state public universities, a nearly 3% increase from the previous year. Tuition at private schools increased by roughly 4% in the same time period.
Besides financial concerns, there are career opportunities to consider. Though the job market in the United States shifts from month to month, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates aged 22 to 27 reached 5.8% in March 2025, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For context, that's more than double the unemployment rate of all college graduates.
These factors all contribute to the belief that college may not be the answer for everyone. However, research shows that a bachelor's degree still pays off in the long run. As of 2024, the most recent year with available data, the $60,000 median salary for a recent college graduate is $20,000 more than the median earnings for someone with only a high school diploma.
Although high school grads can make a decent salary without taking on student loan debt, lifetime earnings range between $630,000 and $900,000 more for those with a bachelor's degree. Graduate degree holders, meanwhile, may earn $1.1 million to $1.5 million more than high school graduates.
With this in mind, many different jobs make a degree worth the cost of tuition. Stacker ranked the highest-paying jobs that require a bachelor's degree in Ocala, using annual compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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2 / 50#49. Business operations specialists, all other
- Median annual wage: $59,450
- Median hourly wage: $28.58
- Total employment: 480 people (4.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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3 / 50#48. Surveyors
- Median annual wage: $60,200
- Median hourly wage: $28.94
- Total employment: 60 people (0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rido // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Human resources specialists
- Median annual wage: $60,390
- Median hourly wage: $29.03
- Total employment: 460 people (3.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Andrey_Popov // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Property appraisers and assessors
- Median annual wage: $60,850
- Median hourly wage: $29.26
- Total employment: 70 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Fundraisers
- Median annual wage: $61,560
- Median hourly wage: $29.60
- Total employment: 40 people (0.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PanuShot // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Financial specialists, all other
- Median annual wage: $61,770
- Median hourly wage: $29.70
- Total employment: 50 people (0.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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8 / 50#43. Dietitians and nutritionists
- Median annual wage: $61,830
- Median hourly wage: $29.72
- Total employment: 40 people (0.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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9 / 50#42. Operations research analysts
- Median annual wage: $62,940
- Median hourly wage: $30.26
- Total employment: 30 people (0.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Pakorn Khantiyaporn // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Logisticians
- Median annual wage: $65,480
- Median hourly wage: $31.48
- Total employment: 90 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $66,190
- Median hourly wage: $31.82
- Total employment: 80 people (0.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $66,390
- Median hourly wage: $31.92
- Total employment: 160 people (1.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Mongta Studio // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Cost estimators
- Median annual wage: $67,060
- Median hourly wage: $32.24
- Total employment: 210 people (1.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $67,650
- Median hourly wage: $32.52
- Total employment: 60 people (0.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $68,630
- Median hourly wage: $33.00
- Total employment: 180 people (1.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $68,950
- Median hourly wage: $33.15
- Total employment: 80 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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17 / 50#34. Accountants and auditors
- Median annual wage: $69,440
- Median hourly wage: $33.38
- Total employment: 700 people (5.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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18 / 50#33. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $71,920
- Median hourly wage: $34.58
- Total employment: 140 people (1.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $74,890
- Median hourly wage: $36.01
- Total employment: 150 people (1.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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20 / 50#31. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $75,400
- Median hourly wage: $36.25
- Total employment: 320 people (2.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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21 / 50#30. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $75,650
- Median hourly wage: $36.37
- Total employment: 450 people (3.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
22 / 50#28. Registered nurses (tie)
- Median annual wage: $76,410
- Median hourly wage: $36.74
- Total employment: 3,050 people (25.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Engineers, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $76,410
- Median hourly wage: $36.74
- Total employment: 40 people (0.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Technical writers
- Median annual wage: $77,330
- Median hourly wage: $37.18
- Total employment: 30 people (0.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $78,310
- Median hourly wage: $37.65
- Total employment: 70 people (0.61 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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26 / 50#25. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $80,900
- Median hourly wage: $38.89
- Total employment: 2,700 people (22.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $80,930
- Median hourly wage: $38.91
- Total employment: 50 people (0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $81,300
- Median hourly wage: $39.09
- Total employment: 440 people (3.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $81,740
- Median hourly wage: $39.30
- Total employment: 40 people (0.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
sabthai // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Budget analysts
- Median annual wage: $82,870
- Median hourly wage: $39.84
- Total employment: 30 people (0.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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31 / 50#20. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $83,150
- Median hourly wage: $39.98
- Total employment: 60 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $83,750
- Median hourly wage: $40.26
- Total employment: 80 people (0.65 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $87,260
- Median hourly wage: $41.95
- Total employment: 140 people (1.19 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $89,970
- Median hourly wage: $43.25
- Total employment: 100 people (0.82 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $91,000
- Median hourly wage: $43.75
- Total employment: 180 people (1.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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36 / 50#15. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $93,060
- Median hourly wage: $44.74
- Total employment: 150 people (1.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $95,130
- Median hourly wage: $45.73
- Total employment: 60 people (0.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $96,270
- Median hourly wage: $46.29
- Total employment: 270 people (2.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $97,710
- Median hourly wage: $46.98
- Total employment: 420 people (3.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $100,230
- Median hourly wage: $48.19
- Total employment: 120 people (1.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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41 / 50#10. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $103,290
- Median hourly wage: $49.66
- Total employment: 40 people (0.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $104,820
- Median hourly wage: $50.40
- Total employment: 30 people (0.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $105,320
- Median hourly wage: $50.64
- Total employment: 360 people (3.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $106,670
- Median hourly wage: $51.29
- Total employment: 60 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $107,340
- Median hourly wage: $51.61
- Total employment: Not available
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46 / 50#5. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $108,590
- Median hourly wage: $52.21
- Total employment: 400 people (3.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $109,990
- Median hourly wage: $52.88
- Total employment: 60 people (0.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $123,460
- Median hourly wage: $59.36
- Total employment: 330 people (2.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $129,260
- Median hourly wage: $62.15
- Total employment: 150 people (1.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $145,310
- Median hourly wage: $69.86
- Total employment: 60 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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