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1 / 50#50. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $80,770
- Median hourly wage: $38.83
- Total employment: 60 people (0.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Wausau
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 Wausau. 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. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $80,930
- Median hourly wage: $38.91
- Total employment: 30 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $81,080
- Median hourly wage: $38.98
- Total employment: 170 people (2.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Andrey_Popov // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters
- Median annual wage: $81,100
- Median hourly wage: $38.99
- Total employment: 190 people (2.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $82,320
- Median hourly wage: $39.58
- Total employment: 70 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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6 / 50#44. Electrical engineers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $82,790
- Median hourly wage: $39.80
- Total employment: 70 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $82,790
- Median hourly wage: $39.81
- Total employment: 120 people (1.65 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $82,900
- Median hourly wage: $39.86
- Total employment: 110 people (1.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $84,600
- Median hourly wage: $40.67
- Total employment: 40 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Software quality assurance analysts and testers
- Median annual wage: $85,410
- Median hourly wage: $41.06
- Total employment: 50 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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11 / 50#40. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
- Median annual wage: $85,890
- Median hourly wage: $41.29
- Total employment: 40 people (0.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $86,320
- Median hourly wage: $41.50
- Total employment: 80 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $86,490
- Median hourly wage: $41.58
- Total employment: 190 people (2.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $87,940
- Median hourly wage: $42.28
- Total employment: 410 people (5.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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15 / 50#36. Detectives and criminal investigators
- Median annual wage: $88,610
- Median hourly wage: $42.60
- Total employment: 30 people (0.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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16 / 50#35. Diagnostic medical sonographers
- Median annual wage: $93,600
- Median hourly wage: $45.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $94,570
- Median hourly wage: $45.47
- Total employment: 380 people (5.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $95,580
- Median hourly wage: $45.95
- Total employment: 200 people (2.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $95,750
- Median hourly wage: $46.04
- Total employment: 30 people (0.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
g-stockstudio // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
- Median annual wage: $96,390
- Median hourly wage: $46.34
- Total employment: 150 people (2.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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21 / 50#30. Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median annual wage: $97,880
- Median hourly wage: $47.06
- Total employment: 30 people (0.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $98,590
- Median hourly wage: $47.40
- Total employment: 80 people (1.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $98,780
- Median hourly wage: $47.49
- Total employment: 60 people (0.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $99,610
- Median hourly wage: $47.89
- Total employment: 50 people (0.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $100,090
- Median hourly wage: $48.12
- Total employment: 60 people (0.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $100,840
- Median hourly wage: $48.48
- Total employment: 270 people (3.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $101,090
- Median hourly wage: $48.60
- Total employment: 120 people (1.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $101,690
- Median hourly wage: $48.89
- Total employment: 170 people (2.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $104,530
- Median hourly wage: $50.26
- Total employment: 270 people (3.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $108,120
- Median hourly wage: $51.98
- Total employment: 270 people (3.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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31 / 50#20. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $108,680
- Median hourly wage: $52.25
- Total employment: 160 people (2.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $111,730
- Median hourly wage: $53.72
- Total employment: 50 people (0.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $114,330
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 60 people (0.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $115,250
- Median hourly wage: $55.41
- Total employment: 130 people (1.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $117,640
- Median hourly wage: $56.56
- Total employment: 40 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $118,330
- Median hourly wage: $56.89
- Total employment: 80 people (1.09 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $120,160
- Median hourly wage: $57.77
- Total employment: 110 people (1.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $120,460
- Median hourly wage: $57.92
- Total employment: 820 people (11.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $122,120
- Median hourly wage: $58.71
- Total employment: 100 people (1.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $125,160
- Median hourly wage: $60.17
- Total employment: 60 people (0.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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dokurose // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $125,890
- Median hourly wage: $60.52
- Total employment: 200 people (2.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $127,370
- Median hourly wage: $61.24
- Total employment: 150 people (2.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $128,540
- Median hourly wage: $61.80
- Total employment: 80 people (1.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $130,060
- Median hourly wage: $62.53
- Total employment: 110 people (1.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $132,000
- Median hourly wage: $63.46
- Total employment: 70 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $134,660
- Median hourly wage: $64.74
- Total employment: 300 people (4.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $144,770
- Median hourly wage: $69.60
- Total employment: 120 people (1.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $208,540
- Median hourly wage: $100.26
- Total employment: 60 people (0.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $236,650
- Median hourly wage: $113.78
- Total employment: 80 people (1.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Physicians, all other
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 100 people (1.46 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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