The top 25 occupations in Washington ranked by 2026 median annual salary. Based on BLS data projected forward with Washington cost-of-living adjustment.
Ranked by median annual base salary. Click any role for full Washington-specific detail.
| Rank | Role | Median 2026 | 75th % | Top 10% (P90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | CEO (Mid-Market) Business & Management | $662,000 | $860,600 | $1,092,300 |
| #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 | AI Engineer Technology | $300,200 | $390,300 | $495,400 |
| #6 | Corporate Lawyer Legal | $299,400 | $389,200 | $494,000 |
| #7 | Investment Banker Finance | $271,600 | $353,000 | $448,100 |
| #8 | Machine Learning Engineer Technology | $267,400 | $347,700 | $441,300 |
| #9 | Dentist Healthcare | $258,000 | $335,400 | $425,700 |
| #10 | Senior Software Engineer Technology | $255,900 | $332,700 | $422,300 |
| #11 | Site Reliability Engineer Technology | $246,800 | $320,800 | $407,200 |
| #12 | Product Manager Technology | $226,800 | $294,800 | $374,200 |
| #13 | Data Scientist Technology | $220,800 | $287,000 | $364,300 |
| #14 | IT Manager Technology | $219,100 | $284,900 | $361,500 |
| #15 | Data Engineer Technology | $211,800 | $275,400 | $349,500 |
| #16 | Cloud Engineer (AWS/Azure) Technology | $211,800 | $275,400 | $349,500 |
| #17 | Controller Finance | $211,700 | $275,200 | $349,300 |
| #18 | Judge / Magistrate Legal | $211,700 | $275,200 | $349,300 |
| #19 | Management Consultant Business & Management | $209,600 | $272,500 | $345,900 |
| #20 | Sales Engineer Sales | $207,300 | $269,400 | $342,000 |
| #21 | Lawyer / Attorney Legal | $206,100 | $267,900 | $340,100 |
| #22 | DevOps Engineer Technology | $205,900 | $267,600 | $339,700 |
| #23 | Petroleum Engineer Engineering | $204,100 | $265,400 | $336,800 |
| #24 | Pharmacist Healthcare | $197,800 | $257,100 | $326,400 |
| #25 | Software Engineer Technology | $196,900 | $256,000 | $324,900 |
In Washington, the highest-paying job tracked is CEO (Mid-Market), with a median salary of $662,000 in 2026. The 90th percentile reaches $1,092,300.
Salaries are based on BLS OEWS data, projected forward to 2026 using category-specific wage growth and adjusted for Washington'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 Washington 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.