Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $75,920
- Median hourly wage: $36.50
- Total employment: 70 people (1.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Manhattan
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 Manhattan. 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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Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $77,570
- Median hourly wage: $37.29
- Total employment: 760 people (14.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $77,780
- Median hourly wage: $37.39
- Total employment: 70 people (1.39 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $78,000
- Median hourly wage: $37.50
- Total employment: 60 people (1.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $78,410
- Median hourly wage: $37.70
- Total employment: 200 people (3.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $79,790
- Median hourly wage: $38.36
- Total employment: 60 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Biological scientists, all other
- Median annual wage: $79,940
- Median hourly wage: $38.43
- Total employment: 60 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $80,000
- Median hourly wage: $38.46
- Total employment: 130 people (2.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $80,020
- Median hourly wage: $38.47
- Total employment: 100 people (1.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $80,030
- Median hourly wage: $38.48
- Total employment: 80 people (1.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $80,110
- Median hourly wage: $38.52
- Total employment: 50 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $80,220
- Median hourly wage: $38.57
- Total employment: 40 people (0.77 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $80,230
- Median hourly wage: $38.57
- Total employment: 110 people (2.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Pakorn Khantiyaporn // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Logisticians
- Median annual wage: $81,340
- Median hourly wage: $39.11
- Total employment: 130 people (2.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $82,130
- Median hourly wage: $39.49
- Total employment: 90 people (1.74 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Microbiologists
- Median annual wage: $82,220
- Median hourly wage: $39.53
- Total employment: 30 people (0.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $82,730
- Median hourly wage: $39.78
- Total employment: 920 people (17.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $85,040
- Median hourly wage: $40.88
- Total employment: 30 people (0.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Social scientists and related workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $87,050
- Median hourly wage: $41.85
- Total employment: 40 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
comzeal images // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $88,400
- Median hourly wage: $42.50
- Total employment: 180 people (3.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $90,430
- Median hourly wage: $43.47
- Total employment: 90 people (1.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $90,620
- Median hourly wage: $43.57
- Total employment: 130 people (2.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $92,810
- Median hourly wage: $44.62
- Total employment: 150 people (2.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $94,720
- Median hourly wage: $45.54
- Total employment: 180 people (3.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $96,540
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 100 people (1.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $96,610
- Median hourly wage: $46.45
- Total employment: 90 people (1.61 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $97,150
- Median hourly wage: $46.71
- Total employment: 150 people (2.78 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $99,680
- Median hourly wage: $47.92
- Total employment: 410 people (7.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $99,970
- Median hourly wage: $48.06
- Total employment: 80 people (1.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $101,550
- Median hourly wage: $48.82
- Total employment: 50 people (0.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $102,220
- Median hourly wage: $49.14
- Total employment: 40 people (0.74 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $102,590
- Median hourly wage: $49.32
- Total employment: 100 people (1.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $103,790
- Median hourly wage: $49.90
- Total employment: 40 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $106,850
- Median hourly wage: $51.37
- Total employment: 220 people (4.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $107,650
- Median hourly wage: $51.76
- Total employment: 40 people (0.77 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $108,890
- Median hourly wage: $52.35
- Total employment: 190 people (3.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $114,510
- Median hourly wage: $55.05
- Total employment: 50 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $115,900
- Median hourly wage: $55.72
- Total employment: 70 people (1.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $122,520
- Median hourly wage: $58.90
- Total employment: 120 people (2.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $122,950
- Median hourly wage: $59.11
- Total employment: 30 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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dokurose // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $129,230
- Median hourly wage: $62.13
- Total employment: 90 people (1.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $133,930
- Median hourly wage: $64.39
- Total employment: 90 people (1.71 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $134,950
- Median hourly wage: $64.88
- Total employment: 90 people (1.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $137,010
- Median hourly wage: $65.87
- Total employment: 60 people (1.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VE.Studio // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $138,490
- Median hourly wage: $66.58
- Total employment: 40 people (0.78 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $139,800
- Median hourly wage: $67.21
- Total employment: 40 people (0.74 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $142,560
- Median hourly wage: $68.54
- Total employment: 180 people (3.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $158,120
- Median hourly wage: $76.02
- Total employment: 90 people (1.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $165,320
- Median hourly wage: $79.48
- Total employment: 40 people (0.7 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: 70 people (1.39 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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