BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $107,720
- Median hourly wage: $51.79
- Total employment: 470 people (1.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Dayton
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 Dayton. 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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2 / 50#49. Financial specialists, all other
- Median annual wage: $108,200
- Median hourly wage: $52.02
- Total employment: 990 people (2.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $108,970
- Median hourly wage: $52.39
- Total employment: 50 people (0.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Tonhom1009 // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers
- Median annual wage: $109,160
- Median hourly wage: $52.48
- Total employment: 90 people (0.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Pressmaster // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Public relations managers
- Median annual wage: $110,350
- Median hourly wage: $53.05
- Total employment: 50 people (0.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $110,800
- Median hourly wage: $53.27
- Total employment: 220 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $111,200
- Median hourly wage: $53.46
- Total employment: 1,150 people (3.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median annual wage: $112,100
- Median hourly wage: $53.90
- Total employment: 70 people (0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $113,010
- Median hourly wage: $54.33
- Total employment: 210 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PR Image Factory // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Operations research analysts
- Median annual wage: $115,950
- Median hourly wage: $55.74
- Total employment: 400 people (1.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Social scientists and related workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $117,960
- Median hourly wage: $56.71
- Total employment: 710 people (1.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Biological scientists, all other
- Median annual wage: $119,450
- Median hourly wage: $57.43
- Total employment: 80 people (0.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
eldar nurkovic // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Chemical engineers
- Median annual wage: $120,040
- Median hourly wage: $57.71
- Total employment: 70 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sebastian Duda // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates
- Median annual wage: $123,050
- Median hourly wage: $59.16
- Total employment: 180 people (0.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $124,280
- Median hourly wage: $59.75
- Total employment: 60 people (0.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors
- Median annual wage: $125,510
- Median hourly wage: $60.34
- Total employment: 60 people (0.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $125,680
- Median hourly wage: $60.42
- Total employment: 920 people (2.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $125,820
- Median hourly wage: $60.49
- Total employment: 360 people (0.97 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $126,080
- Median hourly wage: $60.62
- Total employment: 190 people (0.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SeventyFour // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Computer hardware engineers
- Median annual wage: $126,240
- Median hourly wage: $60.69
- Total employment: 230 people (0.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Mark_Kostich // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Medical dosimetrists
- Median annual wage: $127,150
- Median hourly wage: $61.13
- Total employment: 140 people (0.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $127,950
- Median hourly wage: $61.52
- Total employment: 400 people (1.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $128,500
- Median hourly wage: $61.78
- Total employment: 440 people (1.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $128,510
- Median hourly wage: $61.78
- Total employment: 70 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $128,670
- Median hourly wage: $61.86
- Total employment: 670 people (1.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Database architects
- Median annual wage: $129,030
- Median hourly wage: $62.03
- Total employment: 130 people (0.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Electronics engineers, except computer
- Median annual wage: $130,620
- Median hourly wage: $62.80
- Total employment: 1,180 people (3.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $130,640
- Median hourly wage: $62.81
- Total employment: 1,390 people (3.74 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $130,730
- Median hourly wage: $62.85
- Total employment: 560 people (1.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BlurryMe // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. General internal medicine physicians
- Median annual wage: $131,830
- Median hourly wage: $63.38
- Total employment: Not available
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Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Computer and information research scientists
- Median annual wage: $132,660
- Median hourly wage: $63.78
- Total employment: 150 people (0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
aappp // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Aerospace engineers
- Median annual wage: $132,970
- Median hourly wage: $63.93
- Total employment: 1,250 people (3.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $133,430
- Median hourly wage: $64.15
- Total employment: 1,070 people (2.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $133,650
- Median hourly wage: $64.25
- Total employment: 190 people (0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
luchschenF // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Physicists
- Median annual wage: $134,030
- Median hourly wage: $64.44
- Total employment: 210 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $134,130
- Median hourly wage: $64.49
- Total employment: 890 people (2.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Halfpoint // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Materials engineers
- Median annual wage: $136,300
- Median hourly wage: $65.53
- Total employment: 240 people (0.65 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Physical scientists, all other
- Median annual wage: $137,820
- Median hourly wage: $66.26
- Total employment: 130 people (0.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VE.Studio // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $138,770
- Median hourly wage: $66.72
- Total employment: 60 people (0.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $139,380
- Median hourly wage: $67.01
- Total employment: 1,800 people (4.83 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: $152,240
- Median hourly wage: $73.19
- Total employment: 800 people (2.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $158,790
- Median hourly wage: $76.34
- Total employment: 560 people (1.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Skycolors // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Commercial pilots
- Median annual wage: $163,810
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 100 people (0.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $189,900
- Median hourly wage: $91.30
- Total employment: 230 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $211,600
- Median hourly wage: $101.73
- Total employment: 210 people (0.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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LightField Studios // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Nurse anesthetists
- Median annual wage: $215,210
- Median hourly wage: $103.47
- Total employment: 230 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
47 / 50#1. Anesthesiologists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 90 people (0.25 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: Not available
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: 1,790 people (4.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Natee K Jindakum // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Physicians, pathologists (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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