Etaphop photo // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Electricians
- Median annual wage: $82,200
- Median hourly wage: $39.52
- Total employment: 270 people (4.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Mankato
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 Mankato. 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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pio3 // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Police and sheriff's patrol officers
- Median annual wage: $82,370
- Median hourly wage: $39.60
- Total employment: 160 people (2.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $82,510
- Median hourly wage: $39.67
- Total employment: 40 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
sculpies // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
- Median annual wage: $83,180
- Median hourly wage: $39.99
- Total employment: 250 people (4.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Civil engineering technologists and technicians
- Median annual wage: $83,220
- Median hourly wage: $40.01
- Total employment: 30 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $84,270
- Median hourly wage: $40.52
- Total employment: 140 people (2.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $84,430
- Median hourly wage: $40.59
- Total employment: 60 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $84,960
- Median hourly wage: $40.85
- Total employment: 1,230 people (22.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $85,040
- Median hourly wage: $40.88
- Total employment: 230 people (4.09 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Patrizio Martorana // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health
- Median annual wage: $85,080
- Median hourly wage: $40.90
- Total employment: 30 people (0.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $86,390
- Median hourly wage: $41.53
- Total employment: 130 people (2.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $88,230
- Median hourly wage: $42.42
- Total employment: 60 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $89,420
- Median hourly wage: $42.99
- Total employment: 40 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $91,410
- Median hourly wage: $43.95
- Total employment: 60 people (1.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
comzeal images // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $93,140
- Median hourly wage: $44.78
- Total employment: 150 people (2.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $93,180
- Median hourly wage: $44.80
- Total employment: 80 people (1.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $93,260
- Median hourly wage: $44.84
- Total employment: 80 people (1.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Matej Kastelic // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Business teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $96,500
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: Not available
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $97,160
- Median hourly wage: $46.71
- Total employment: 90 people (1.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $97,550
- Median hourly wage: $46.90
- Total employment: 50 people (0.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Ground Picture // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $97,870
- Median hourly wage: $47.05
- Total employment: 30 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $98,110
- Median hourly wage: $47.17
- Total employment: 80 people (1.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $98,450
- Median hourly wage: $47.33
- Total employment: 70 people (1.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $98,870
- Median hourly wage: $47.54
- Total employment: 150 people (2.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $100,160
- Median hourly wage: $48.16
- Total employment: 100 people (1.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $100,960
- Median hourly wage: $48.54
- Total employment: 100 people (1.77 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $101,550
- Median hourly wage: $48.82
- Total employment: Not available
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $103,000
- Median hourly wage: $49.52
- Total employment: 1,460 people (26.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $104,190
- Median hourly wage: $50.09
- Total employment: 30 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $106,370
- Median hourly wage: $51.14
- Total employment: 50 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $107,400
- Median hourly wage: $51.63
- Total employment: 220 people (3.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median annual wage: $111,320
- Median hourly wage: $53.52
- Total employment: 30 people (0.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Health specialties teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $115,890
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 50 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $117,750
- Median hourly wage: $56.61
- Total employment: 30 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $118,080
- Median hourly wage: $56.77
- Total employment: 50 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $123,760
- Median hourly wage: $59.50
- Total employment: 90 people (1.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $124,110
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 50 people (0.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $126,450
- Median hourly wage: $60.79
- Total employment: 130 people (2.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $126,610
- Median hourly wage: $60.87
- Total employment: 170 people (3.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $132,310
- Median hourly wage: $63.61
- Total employment: 230 people (4.09 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $133,010
- Median hourly wage: $63.95
- Total employment: 70 people (1.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $134,950
- Median hourly wage: $64.88
- Total employment: 50 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $135,190
- Median hourly wage: $65.00
- Total employment: 140 people (2.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $137,170
- Median hourly wage: $65.95
- Total employment: 80 people (1.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $153,140
- Median hourly wage: $73.63
- Total employment: 90 people (1.62 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: $155,150
- Median hourly wage: $74.59
- Total employment: 60 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $192,090
- Median hourly wage: $92.35
- Total employment: 110 people (2.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $196,390
- Median hourly wage: $94.42
- Total employment: 50 people (0.99 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: Not available
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: Not available
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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