Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Median annual wage: $82,430
- Median hourly wage: $39.63
- Total employment: Not available
Highest-paying jobs in Bismarck
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 Bismarck. 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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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $83,330
- Median hourly wage: $40.06
- Total employment: Not available
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $83,470
- Median hourly wage: $40.13
- Total employment: 40 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $84,620
- Median hourly wage: $40.68
- Total employment: 330 people (4.77 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Zaiets // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment
- Median annual wage: $84,730
- Median hourly wage: $40.74
- Total employment: 30 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#45. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $86,390
- Median hourly wage: $41.54
- Total employment: 40 people (0.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $86,840
- Median hourly wage: $41.75
- Total employment: 40 people (0.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $86,940
- Median hourly wage: $41.80
- Total employment: 50 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $87,620
- Median hourly wage: $42.12
- Total employment: 120 people (1.71 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $87,660
- Median hourly wage: $42.14
- Total employment: 170 people (2.38 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: $87,720
- Median hourly wage: $42.17
- Total employment: 200 people (2.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
santi lumubol // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Aircraft mechanics and service technicians
- Median annual wage: $88,570
- Median hourly wage: $42.58
- Total employment: 40 people (0.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
James Kirkikis // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Zoologists and wildlife biologists
- Median annual wage: $88,820
- Median hourly wage: $42.70
- Total employment: 40 people (0.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $89,240
- Median hourly wage: $42.91
- Total employment: 1,760 people (25.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $90,000
- Median hourly wage: $43.27
- Total employment: 40 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $90,520
- Median hourly wage: $43.52
- Total employment: 80 people (1.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $96,360
- Median hourly wage: $46.33
- Total employment: 410 people (5.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $96,910
- Median hourly wage: $46.59
- Total employment: 40 people (0.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $97,220
- Median hourly wage: $46.74
- Total employment: 70 people (0.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $98,510
- Median hourly wage: $47.36
- Total employment: 340 people (4.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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21 / 50#30. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $98,960
- Median hourly wage: $47.58
- Total employment: 90 people (1.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $101,390
- Median hourly wage: $48.75
- Total employment: 120 people (1.71 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $102,100
- Median hourly wage: $49.09
- Total employment: 150 people (2.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Pressmaster // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Public relations managers
- Median annual wage: $102,620
- Median hourly wage: $49.34
- Total employment: 30 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $103,490
- Median hourly wage: $49.76
- Total employment: 40 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $104,000
- Median hourly wage: $50.00
- Total employment: 60 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $104,800
- Median hourly wage: $50.39
- Total employment: 60 people (0.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $104,970
- Median hourly wage: $50.46
- Total employment: 60 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $105,380
- Median hourly wage: $50.66
- Total employment: 290 people (4.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $106,380
- Median hourly wage: $51.15
- Total employment: 60 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $107,840
- Median hourly wage: $51.85
- Total employment: 60 people (0.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median annual wage: $113,220
- Median hourly wage: $54.44
- Total employment: 30 people (0.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $113,810
- Median hourly wage: $54.72
- Total employment: 40 people (0.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $116,360
- Median hourly wage: $55.94
- Total employment: 440 people (6.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $124,810
- Median hourly wage: $60.00
- Total employment: 200 people (2.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Stokkete // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $124,990
- Median hourly wage: $60.09
- Total employment: 90 people (1.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $126,160
- Median hourly wage: $60.66
- Total employment: 30 people (0.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $127,630
- Median hourly wage: $61.36
- Total employment: 40 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $128,240
- Median hourly wage: $61.66
- Total employment: 380 people (5.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VE.Studio // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $131,020
- Median hourly wage: $62.99
- Total employment: 40 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Skycolors // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Commercial pilots
- Median annual wage: $133,500
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 60 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $135,060
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 100 people (1.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $136,920
- Median hourly wage: $65.83
- Total employment: 150 people (2.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $137,920
- Median hourly wage: $66.31
- Total employment: 160 people (2.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $141,830
- Median hourly wage: $68.19
- Total employment: 80 people (1.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $202,070
- Median hourly wage: $97.15
- Total employment: 50 people (0.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Nurse anesthetists
- Median annual wage: $234,940
- Median hourly wage: $112.95
- Total employment: 60 people (0.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Djols // Shutterstock
48 / 50#1. Emergency medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.52 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: 60 people (0.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Physicians, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 70 people (1.07 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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