The top 25 occupations in Massachusetts ranked by 2026 median annual salary. Based on BLS data projected forward with Massachusetts cost-of-living adjustment.
Ranked by median annual base salary. Click any role for full Massachusetts-specific detail.
| Rank | Role | Median 2026 | 75th % | Top 10% (P90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | CEO (Mid-Market) Business & Management | $636,500 | $827,500 | $1,050,300 |
| #2 | Surgeon Healthcare | $544,600 | $708,000 | $898,600 |
| #3 | Chief Financial Officer Finance | $498,500 | $648,100 | $822,600 |
| #4 | Physician (MD/DO) Healthcare | $351,100 | $456,500 | $579,400 |
| #5 | Corporate Lawyer Legal | $310,900 | $404,200 | $513,000 |
| #6 | AI Engineer Technology | $272,600 | $354,300 | $449,700 |
| #7 | Investment Banker Finance | $271,600 | $353,000 | $448,100 |
| #8 | Dentist Healthcare | $258,000 | $335,400 | $425,700 |
| #9 | Machine Learning Engineer Technology | $244,000 | $317,100 | $402,500 |
| #10 | Senior Software Engineer Technology | $229,500 | $298,300 | $378,600 |
| #11 | Lawyer / Attorney Legal | $225,100 | $292,700 | $371,500 |
| #12 | Site Reliability Engineer Technology | $221,300 | $287,600 | $365,100 |
| #13 | IT Manager Technology | $215,800 | $280,500 | $356,100 |
| #14 | Judge / Magistrate Legal | $211,700 | $275,200 | $349,300 |
| #15 | Product Manager Technology | $204,400 | $265,700 | $337,300 |
| #16 | Petroleum Engineer Engineering | $204,100 | $265,400 | $336,800 |
| #17 | Controller Finance | $203,500 | $264,600 | $335,800 |
| #18 | Data Scientist Technology | $202,100 | $262,800 | $333,500 |
| #19 | Management Consultant Business & Management | $201,600 | $262,000 | $332,600 |
| #20 | Pharmacist Healthcare | $197,800 | $257,100 | $326,400 |
| #21 | Data Engineer Technology | $193,900 | $252,100 | $320,000 |
| #22 | Cloud Engineer (AWS/Azure) Technology | $193,900 | $252,100 | $320,000 |
| #23 | Sales Engineer Sales | $191,600 | $249,000 | $316,100 |
| #24 | DevOps Engineer Technology | $188,500 | $245,000 | $311,000 |
| #25 | Physician Assistant (PA) Healthcare | $186,300 | $242,200 | $307,400 |
In Massachusetts, the highest-paying job tracked is CEO (Mid-Market), with a median salary of $636,500 in 2026. The 90th percentile reaches $1,050,300.
Salaries are based on BLS OEWS data, projected forward to 2026 using category-specific wage growth and adjusted for Massachusetts's cost-of-living index. The ranking shows median annual base pay (excluding bonuses, equity, and benefits).
Most of the top 25 highest-paying jobs in Massachusetts typically require at least a bachelor's degree, and many require advanced degrees (medicine, law, engineering specializations). Trades roles are notable exceptions — they appear in some state rankings without requiring four-year degrees.