Rido // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Human resources specialists
- Median annual wage: $63,680
- Median hourly wage: $30.61
- Total employment: 230 people (4.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Punta Gorda
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 Punta Gorda. 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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4 PM production // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
- Median annual wage: $64,890
- Median hourly wage: $31.20
- Total employment: 210 people (3.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
comzeal images // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $65,080
- Median hourly wage: $31.29
- Total employment: 40 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Physical therapist assistants
- Median annual wage: $65,510
- Median hourly wage: $31.50
- Total employment: 80 people (1.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
sculpies // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
- Median annual wage: $67,220
- Median hourly wage: $32.32
- Total employment: 500 people (8.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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goodluz // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $69,580
- Median hourly wage: $33.45
- Total employment: 40 people (0.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VH-studio // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Child, family, and school social workers
- Median annual wage: $70,460
- Median hourly wage: $33.88
- Total employment: 110 people (2.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
pio3 // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Police and sheriff's patrol officers
- Median annual wage: $70,530
- Median hourly wage: $33.91
- Total employment: 510 people (9.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ImageFlow // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Accountants and auditors
- Median annual wage: $71,850
- Median hourly wage: $34.54
- Total employment: 380 people (6.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $71,950
- Median hourly wage: $34.59
- Total employment: 50 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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boonchoke // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Business operations specialists, all other
- Median annual wage: $74,060
- Median hourly wage: $35.61
- Total employment: 180 people (3.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prath // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Detectives and criminal investigators
- Median annual wage: $75,680
- Median hourly wage: $36.39
- Total employment: 40 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $76,110
- Median hourly wage: $36.59
- Total employment: 180 people (3.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $77,670
- Median hourly wage: $37.34
- Total employment: 40 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
g-stockstudio // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
- Median annual wage: $78,570
- Median hourly wage: $37.77
- Total employment: 90 people (1.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $79,260
- Median hourly wage: $38.11
- Total employment: 160 people (2.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Photographee.eu // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Special education teachers, secondary school
- Median annual wage: $79,760
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 80 people (1.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $79,940
- Median hourly wage: $38.44
- Total employment: 110 people (1.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $79,980
- Median hourly wage: $38.45
- Total employment: 240 people (4.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $80,500
- Median hourly wage: $38.70
- Total employment: 1,480 people (26.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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SofikoS // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Diagnostic medical sonographers
- Median annual wage: $81,080
- Median hourly wage: $38.98
- Total employment: 50 people (0.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $81,920
- Median hourly wage: $39.39
- Total employment: 90 people (1.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators
- Median annual wage: $82,220
- Median hourly wage: $39.53
- Total employment: 40 people (0.71 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $82,920
- Median hourly wage: $39.87
- Total employment: 240 people (4.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Instructional coordinators
- Median annual wage: $84,570
- Median hourly wage: $40.66
- Total employment: 60 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $85,610
- Median hourly wage: $41.16
- Total employment: 1,440 people (25.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $86,110
- Median hourly wage: $41.40
- Total employment: Not available
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $90,380
- Median hourly wage: $43.45
- Total employment: 30 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
- Median annual wage: $96,050
- Median hourly wage: $46.18
- Total employment: 60 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $96,310
- Median hourly wage: $46.30
- Total employment: 170 people (3.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $97,890
- Median hourly wage: $47.06
- Total employment: 40 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $98,490
- Median hourly wage: $47.35
- Total employment: 110 people (1.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $98,900
- Median hourly wage: $47.55
- Total employment: 60 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $99,590
- Median hourly wage: $47.88
- Total employment: 40 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $99,990
- Median hourly wage: $48.07
- Total employment: 110 people (1.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $100,110
- Median hourly wage: $48.13
- Total employment: 120 people (2.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $103,420
- Median hourly wage: $49.72
- Total employment: 230 people (4.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $105,710
- Median hourly wage: $50.82
- Total employment: 160 people (2.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $107,540
- Median hourly wage: $51.70
- Total employment: 130 people (2.23 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $116,870
- Median hourly wage: $56.19
- Total employment: 70 people (1.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Stokkete // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $124,840
- Median hourly wage: $60.02
- Total employment: 80 people (1.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $125,060
- Median hourly wage: $60.13
- Total employment: 110 people (1.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $126,180
- Median hourly wage: $60.66
- Total employment: 40 people (0.71 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $126,450
- Median hourly wage: $60.79
- Total employment: 180 people (3.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $130,540
- Median hourly wage: $62.76
- Total employment: 190 people (3.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $139,160
- Median hourly wage: $66.90
- Total employment: 110 people (1.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $157,940
- Median hourly wage: $75.94
- Total employment: 60 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $162,770
- Median hourly wage: $78.26
- Total employment: 60 people (1.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. Physicians, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 130 people (2.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Family medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.75 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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