Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Insurance sales agents
- Median annual wage: $65,360
- Median hourly wage: $31.43
- Total employment: 130 people (2.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Cape Girardeau
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 Cape Girardeau. 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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SritanaN // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Industrial machinery mechanics
- Median annual wage: $66,680
- Median hourly wage: $32.06
- Total employment: 70 people (1.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
comzeal images // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Loan officers
- Median annual wage: $68,430
- Median hourly wage: $32.90
- Total employment: 80 people (1.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $69,830
- Median hourly wage: $33.57
- Total employment: 70 people (1.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
g-stockstudio // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
- Median annual wage: $71,300
- Median hourly wage: $34.28
- Total employment: 40 people (0.82 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $71,650
- Median hourly wage: $34.45
- Total employment: 1,430 people (31.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
4 PM production // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
- Median annual wage: $72,160
- Median hourly wage: $34.69
- Total employment: 170 people (3.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $73,930
- Median hourly wage: $35.54
- Total employment: 180 people (3.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $75,550
- Median hourly wage: $36.32
- Total employment: 50 people (1.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Mongta Studio // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Cost estimators
- Median annual wage: $75,590
- Median hourly wage: $36.34
- Total employment: 70 people (1.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $75,750
- Median hourly wage: $36.42
- Total employment: 40 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $75,800
- Median hourly wage: $36.44
- Total employment: 50 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $76,510
- Median hourly wage: $36.78
- Total employment: 90 people (2.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $77,830
- Median hourly wage: $37.42
- Total employment: 50 people (1.11 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SofikoS // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Diagnostic medical sonographers
- Median annual wage: $78,330
- Median hourly wage: $37.66
- Total employment: 40 people (0.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $78,440
- Median hourly wage: $37.71
- Total employment: 70 people (1.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $79,040
- Median hourly wage: $38.00
- Total employment: 30 people (0.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $79,490
- Median hourly wage: $38.22
- Total employment: 1,520 people (34.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
sculpies // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
- Median annual wage: $80,400
- Median hourly wage: $38.65
- Total employment: 150 people (3.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $81,840
- Median hourly wage: $39.35
- Total employment: 40 people (0.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $82,330
- Median hourly wage: $39.58
- Total employment: 70 people (1.65 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $82,570
- Median hourly wage: $39.70
- Total employment: 50 people (1.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $84,230
- Median hourly wage: $40.50
- Total employment: 60 people (1.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $86,120
- Median hourly wage: $41.41
- Total employment: 60 people (1.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $86,180
- Median hourly wage: $41.43
- Total employment: 110 people (2.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $88,500
- Median hourly wage: $42.55
- Total employment: 40 people (0.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $89,990
- Median hourly wage: $43.26
- Total employment: 120 people (2.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $92,310
- Median hourly wage: $44.38
- Total employment: 30 people (0.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $93,120
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 110 people (2.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $95,880
- Median hourly wage: $46.10
- Total employment: 70 people (1.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $97,130
- Median hourly wage: $46.70
- Total employment: 90 people (1.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $97,140
- Median hourly wage: $46.70
- Total employment: 50 people (1.11 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $97,310
- Median hourly wage: $46.78
- Total employment: 90 people (1.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $97,530
- Median hourly wage: $46.89
- Total employment: 50 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $98,170
- Median hourly wage: $47.20
- Total employment: 60 people (1.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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goodluz // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $101,000
- Median hourly wage: $48.56
- Total employment: 40 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $101,400
- Median hourly wage: $48.75
- Total employment: 40 people (0.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $103,280
- Median hourly wage: $49.65
- Total employment: 260 people (5.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $107,850
- Median hourly wage: $51.85
- Total employment: 40 people (0.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $118,990
- Median hourly wage: $57.21
- Total employment: 70 people (1.65 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: $120,970
- Median hourly wage: $58.16
- Total employment: 80 people (1.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $123,850
- Median hourly wage: $59.54
- Total employment: 180 people (4.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $126,370
- Median hourly wage: $60.75
- Total employment: 170 people (3.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $135,820
- Median hourly wage: $65.30
- Total employment: 40 people (0.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $135,870
- Median hourly wage: $65.32
- Total employment: 110 people (2.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $143,480
- Median hourly wage: $68.98
- Total employment: 50 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $196,120
- Median hourly wage: $94.29
- Total employment: 50 people (1.05 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
48 / 50#1. Physicians, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 80 people (1.78 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. Anesthesiologists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 30 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Djols // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Emergency medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 30 people (0.67 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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