Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Physical therapist assistants
- Median annual wage: $76,370
- Median hourly wage: $36.72
- Total employment: 70 people (0.77 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Macon
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 Macon. 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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Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $76,710
- Median hourly wage: $36.88
- Total employment: 110 people (1.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Respiratory therapists
- Median annual wage: $77,410
- Median hourly wage: $37.22
- Total employment: 110 people (1.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Undrey // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $77,430
- Median hourly wage: $37.22
- Total employment: 80 people (0.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $79,820
- Median hourly wage: $38.38
- Total employment: 130 people (1.33 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $80,210
- Median hourly wage: $38.56
- Total employment: 30 people (0.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $80,640
- Median hourly wage: $38.77
- Total employment: 120 people (1.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $81,150
- Median hourly wage: $39.01
- Total employment: 90 people (0.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $81,710
- Median hourly wage: $39.28
- Total employment: 1,940 people (20.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $82,160
- Median hourly wage: $39.50
- Total employment: 2,950 people (31.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $85,490
- Median hourly wage: $41.10
- Total employment: 170 people (1.78 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sebastian Duda // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates
- Median annual wage: $85,530
- Median hourly wage: $41.12
- Total employment: 40 people (0.39 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $85,640
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 170 people (1.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $85,920
- Median hourly wage: $41.31
- Total employment: 240 people (2.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $87,350
- Median hourly wage: $42.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $88,350
- Median hourly wage: $42.48
- Total employment: 70 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $89,170
- Median hourly wage: $42.87
- Total employment: 60 people (0.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $90,080
- Median hourly wage: $43.31
- Total employment: 80 people (0.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $90,600
- Median hourly wage: $43.56
- Total employment: 50 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $95,140
- Median hourly wage: $45.74
- Total employment: 40 people (0.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $96,320
- Median hourly wage: $46.31
- Total employment: 120 people (1.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $97,170
- Median hourly wage: $46.71
- Total employment: 150 people (1.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $98,780
- Median hourly wage: $47.49
- Total employment: 630 people (6.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $98,940
- Median hourly wage: $47.57
- Total employment: 30 people (0.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $104,270
- Median hourly wage: $50.13
- Total employment: 70 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $104,760
- Median hourly wage: $50.37
- Total employment: 40 people (0.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $105,470
- Median hourly wage: $50.71
- Total employment: 470 people (4.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $105,540
- Median hourly wage: $50.74
- Total employment: 70 people (0.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $106,080
- Median hourly wage: $51.00
- Total employment: 60 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $106,380
- Median hourly wage: $51.14
- Total employment: 130 people (1.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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creativemarc // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $108,930
- Median hourly wage: $52.37
- Total employment: 160 people (1.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $109,170
- Median hourly wage: $52.49
- Total employment: 360 people (3.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $109,580
- Median hourly wage: $52.68
- Total employment: 50 people (0.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $110,280
- Median hourly wage: $53.02
- Total employment: 60 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $112,990
- Median hourly wage: $54.32
- Total employment: 90 people (0.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $113,650
- Median hourly wage: $54.64
- Total employment: 60 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $113,680
- Median hourly wage: $54.65
- Total employment: 310 people (3.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $113,840
- Median hourly wage: $54.73
- Total employment: 250 people (2.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $122,150
- Median hourly wage: $58.73
- Total employment: 100 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $127,710
- Median hourly wage: $61.40
- Total employment: 280 people (2.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $129,290
- Median hourly wage: $62.16
- Total employment: 110 people (1.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $131,420
- Median hourly wage: $63.18
- Total employment: 110 people (1.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $131,790
- Median hourly wage: $63.36
- Total employment: 80 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $132,790
- Median hourly wage: $63.84
- Total employment: 300 people (3.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $138,840
- Median hourly wage: $66.75
- Total employment: 360 people (3.74 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $147,570
- Median hourly wage: $70.95
- Total employment: 160 people (1.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $177,620
- Median hourly wage: $85.39
- Total employment: 70 people (0.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Nurse anesthetists
- Median annual wage: $222,190
- Median hourly wage: $106.82
- Total employment: 110 people (1.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. Family medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 110 people (1.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BlurryMe // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. General internal medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 30 people (0.35 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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