wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $90,380
- Median hourly wage: $43.45
- Total employment: 190 people (2.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in La Crosse
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 La Crosse. 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.
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $94,150
- Median hourly wage: $45.27
- Total employment: 30 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $94,580
- Median hourly wage: $45.47
- Total employment: 70 people (0.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Registered nurses
- Median annual wage: $95,800
- Median hourly wage: $46.06
- Total employment: 2,780 people (33.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $96,300
- Median hourly wage: $46.30
- Total employment: 40 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $96,820
- Median hourly wage: $46.55
- Total employment: 150 people (1.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $96,960
- Median hourly wage: $46.62
- Total employment: 420 people (5.08 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Skycolors // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Commercial pilots
- Median annual wage: $97,560
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 30 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $97,930
- Median hourly wage: $47.08
- Total employment: 230 people (2.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $99,290
- Median hourly wage: $47.74
- Total employment: 140 people (1.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $99,440
- Median hourly wage: $47.81
- Total employment: 210 people (2.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $99,480
- Median hourly wage: $47.83
- Total employment: 80 people (0.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $99,620
- Median hourly wage: $47.90
- Total employment: 160 people (1.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $99,930
- Median hourly wage: $48.04
- Total employment: 380 people (4.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $100,120
- Median hourly wage: $48.14
- Total employment: 870 people (10.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $100,490
- Median hourly wage: $48.31
- Total employment: 350 people (4.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $100,600
- Median hourly wage: $48.36
- Total employment: 270 people (3.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $101,080
- Median hourly wage: $48.59
- Total employment: 70 people (0.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $101,880
- Median hourly wage: $48.98
- Total employment: 40 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $102,930
- Median hourly wage: $49.49
- Total employment: 170 people (2.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $102,980
- Median hourly wage: $49.51
- Total employment: 40 people (0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $103,270
- Median hourly wage: $49.65
- Total employment: 100 people (1.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $103,410
- Median hourly wage: $49.71
- Total employment: 160 people (1.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
24 / 50#26. Administrative services managers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $105,900
- Median hourly wage: $50.91
- Total employment: 80 people (0.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Facilities managers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $105,900
- Median hourly wage: $50.92
- Total employment: 40 people (0.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $106,080
- Median hourly wage: $51.00
- Total employment: 90 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $108,730
- Median hourly wage: $52.27
- Total employment: 80 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $115,440
- Median hourly wage: $55.50
- Total employment: 60 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
VE.Studio // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $117,190
- Median hourly wage: $56.34
- Total employment: 40 people (0.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $120,270
- Median hourly wage: $57.82
- Total employment: 40 people (0.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $122,270
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 90 people (1.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $122,550
- Median hourly wage: $58.92
- Total employment: 50 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $122,870
- Median hourly wage: $59.07
- Total employment: 170 people (2.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $124,770
- Median hourly wage: $59.99
- Total employment: 150 people (1.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $127,930
- Median hourly wage: $61.51
- Total employment: 260 people (3.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $130,100
- Median hourly wage: $62.55
- Total employment: 110 people (1.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $130,400
- Median hourly wage: $62.69
- Total employment: 330 people (3.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $133,380
- Median hourly wage: $64.13
- Total employment: 80 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $136,560
- Median hourly wage: $65.65
- Total employment: 150 people (1.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median annual wage: $137,990
- Median hourly wage: $66.34
- Total employment: 40 people (0.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wavebreakmedia // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Psychologists, all other
- Median annual wage: $139,830
- Median hourly wage: $67.23
- Total employment: 60 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $156,760
- Median hourly wage: $75.37
- Total employment: 180 people (2.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $176,930
- Median hourly wage: $85.06
- Total employment: 40 people (0.47 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $192,610
- Median hourly wage: $92.60
- Total employment: 130 people (1.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $202,860
- Median hourly wage: $97.53
- Total employment: 70 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
46 / 50#1. Anesthesiologists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
47 / 50#1. Nurse anesthetists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 60 people (0.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
48 / 50#1. Family medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 110 people (1.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Djols // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. Emergency medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 70 people (0.86 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: 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.
