- 1. Lawyer
- 2. Electrical engineer
- 3. Data scientist
- 4. Web designer
- 5. Architect
- 6. Dental hygienist
- 7. Speech-language pathologist
- 8. Registered nurse
- 9. Respiratory therapist
- 10. Radiologic technologist and technician
- What the fastest-growing salaries have in common
- Why are salaries rising for these jobs?
- How to position yourself for a higher-paying career
- Conclusion
- Sources
- About Resume Genius
High-paying jobs are not limited to management, and some of these jobs are seeing much faster salary growth than others. Resume Genius analyzed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage data from 2022 to 2025 to identify occupations that not only pay at least $80,000 a year but have recorded strong recent increases in median pay.
Whether you’re thinking of moving on from your current job for a better salary, or researching jobs in a higher-paying career, review our list of careers and industries most likely to see pay raises in 2026.
| Job title | Median salary | Salary growth |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyer | $159,670 | 5.6% |
| Electrical engineer | $120,630 | 5.3% |
| Data scientist | $120,230 | 5.1% |
| Web designer | $104,000 | 7.7% |
| Architect | $99,280 | 6.2% |
| Dental hygienist | $98,100 | 6.4% |
| Speech-language pathologist | $97,870 | 5.2% |
| Registered nurse | $97,550 | 6.3% |
| Respiratory therapist | $82,280 | 5.3% |
| Radiologic technologist and technician | $80,110 | 7.1% |
Methodology
Resume Genius analyzed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage and employment data to identify high-paying jobs with strong recent salary growth and positive employment prospects.
We compared median annual wages from May 2022 and May 2025 using BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data and calculated each occupation’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the three-year period.
To qualify, occupations had to:
- Pay a 2025 median annual salary of at least $80,000
- Employ more than 100,000 workers in 2025
- Have positive projected employment growth from 2025 to 2035
- Be classified as a detailed SOC occupation
- Not fall under BLS management occupations, first-line supervisory roles, or residual “all other” categories
We selected the 10 qualifying occupations with the highest wage CAGR, then ordered the final list by 2025 median annual salary, from highest to lowest.
Employment figures, growth projections, annual openings, and education requirements come from the BLS 2025-2035 Employment Projections.
Wage growth figures are nominal and not adjusted for inflation. Changes in occupational median pay may also reflect shifts in geography, industry, experience levels, or workforce composition, so they should not be interpreted as guaranteed individual pay raises.
1. Lawyer
- Median annual salary (2025): $159,670
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 5.6%
- Number of jobs (2025): 863,700
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 4.7%
- Typical education level: Doctoral or professional degree
What they do
Lawyers advise clients on their rights and responsibilities, prepare legal documents, negotiate agreements, and represent people or organizations in disputes. The exact work varies widely depending on the area of law they specialise in, from criminal cases and family matters to business contracts and corporate transactions.
Why pay is rising
Legal services are still needed across businesses, government, and everyday life. BLS expects some routine legal work to become more automated, but negotiation, strategy, and representing clients still depend heavily on people, which may help support pay for experienced lawyers.
How to enter this field
Becoming a lawyer typically means completing law school after earning a bachelor’s degree, then passing the bar exam and meeting the licensing requirements in your state. Once you’re qualified, presenting your legal experience, education, and bar credentials clearly on your lawyer resume will help you stand out when applying for work in this competitive field.
2. Electrical engineer
- Median annual salary (2025): $120,630
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 5.3%
- Number of jobs (2025): 199,700
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 9.9%
- Typical education level: Bachelor’s degree
What they do
Electrical engineers work on the systems that power homes, businesses, factories, and technology. They design and test electrical equipment, solve technical problems, and help make sure electronic products and systems work safely and reliably.
Why pay is rising
More projects today than ever depend on electrical systems — from power-grid upgrades, solar installations, and data center installations to semiconductors and communications technology. BLS expects this wider demand for electrical expertise to support job growth, which may also be pushing salaries higher.
How to enter this field
Electrical engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related field, and internships can help build practical experience before graduation. When applying for your first roles, a well-targeted electrical engineer resume can help connect your coursework and project experience to the technical skills employers are looking for.
3. Data scientist
- Median annual salary (2025): $120,230
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 5.1%
- Number of jobs (2025): 275,600
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 35%
- Typical education level: Bachelor’s degree
What they do
Data scientists use large datasets to answer questions that affect real-world decisions, from pricing and forecasting to product strategy and development. They build models and turn the results into guidance that non-technical teams can use.
Why pay is rising
Demand for data scientists is growing as companies collect more data and bring AI into their day-to-day work. BLS says these workers will be needed to help businesses make better use of data, improve processes, develop new products, and support marketing.
How to enter this field
Most data scientists enter the field with a bachelor’s degree in subjects such as mathematics, statistics, or computer science, although some employers prefer candidates with advanced degrees. Because projects often matter as much as formal experience, your data scientist resume should make it easy for employers to understand how you’ve used data to solve real problems.
4. Web designer
- Median annual salary (2025): $104,000
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 7.7%
- Number of jobs (2025): 132,700
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 6.0%
- Typical education level: Bachelor’s degree
What they do
Web and digital interface designers create the visual and interactive parts of websites and apps. They decide how users move through a product, where key information appears, and how each screen should respond to different actions.
Why pay is rising
Businesses are still investing heavily in websites, apps, e-commerce, and other online services today. BLS notes that AI may automate some basic web tasks, but companies still need people who understand design, usability, and how customers interact with digital products – which may help explain the strong wage growth.
How to enter this field
There are several routes into web and digital interface design, with employers often weighing portfolios and practical ability alongside formal education. A strong web designer resume can complement your portfolio by giving employers context about the projects you’ve worked on and the role you played in them.
5. Architect
- Median annual salary (2025): $99,280
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 6.2%
- Number of jobs (2025): 124,600
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 4.3%
- Typical education level: Bachelor’s degree
What they do
Architects turn ideas and client needs into plans for buildings and physical spaces, and help ensure those plans are executed safely and effectively. They create drawings, work with engineers and contractors, and solve design problems as projects move from the planning stage into construction.
Why pay is rising
New construction and renovation continue to create work for architects, especially for homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and other public buildings. BLS also points to growing interest in sustainable design, while new tools can make parts of the design process faster and let architects handle more work across a project.
How to enter this field
Becoming an architect generally involves completing an architecture degree, gaining supervised work experience, and meeting state licensing requirements. As you build your career, your architecture resume should give employers a clear picture of the projects you’ve contributed to and how your responsibilities have developed over time.
6. Dental hygienist
- Median annual salary (2025): $98,100
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 6.4%
- Number of jobs (2025): 225,300
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 8.0%
- Typical education level: Associate’s degree
What they do
Dental hygienists focus on preventive oral care, from cleaning teeth and taking x-rays to checking for signs of gum disease. They also teach patients how to look after their teeth and usually work closely with dentists in practices and clinics.
Why pay is rising
Preventive dental care is becoming more important as the population ages and more people keep their natural teeth later in life. BLS also points to growing awareness of the link between oral health and overall health. Because dental hygienists need specific training and a state license, employers may have to compete more for qualified workers.
How to enter this field
Dental hygienists usually complete an accredited dental hygiene program, most commonly at the associate-degree level, before becoming licensed in their state. Once you’re ready to apply, tailoring your dental hygienist resume around your clinical experience can help employers quickly see that you meet the requirements of the role.
7. Speech-language pathologist
- Median annual salary (2025): $97,870
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 5.2%
- Number of jobs (2025): 193,400
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 17%
- Typical education level: Master’s degree
What they do
Speech-language pathologists support people who have difficulty speaking, communicating, or swallowing. The work can look very different from one patient to the next, from helping a child develop clearer speech to supporting an adult recovering language skills after an illness or injury.
Why pay is rising
Demand is growing among both older adults and children. BLS expects an aging population to increase the number of people needing help after strokes or with conditions such as dementia, while better recognition of speech and language disorders is also increasing demand for specialists.
How to enter this field
Speech-language pathologists generally need a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, along with supervised clinical experience and the appropriate state license. Your speech-language pathologist resume is also an opportunity to show the types of patients and settings you’ve worked with, particularly early in your career.
8. Registered nurse
- Median annual salary (2025): $97,550
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 6.3%
- Number of jobs (2025): 3,465,400
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 5.6%
- Typical education level: Bachelor’s degree
What they do
Registered nurses support patients through every stage of care. Their role can range from monitoring someone after surgery to helping manage a long-term condition, depending on the setting and the needs of the patient.
Why pay is rising
More patients need care as the population ages, while employers also need to replace nurses who leave or retire. BLS expects outpatient and home-based care to keep growing too, which means healthcare providers will continue competing for a large nursing workforce.
How to enter this field
Registered nurses must complete an approved nursing program and pass the NCLEX-RN before becoming licensed, with both associate and bachelor’s degree routes into the profession. For those entering the workforce, a new graduate RN resume can help turn clinical placements and training into experience that is relevant to employers.
9. Respiratory therapist
- Median annual salary (2025): $82,280
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 5.3%
- Number of jobs (2025): 142,000
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 8.5%
- Typical education level: Associate’s degree
What they do
Respiratory therapists care for patients whose breathing has been affected by illness or long-term conditions. A typical day might involve helping someone through an asthma attack, adjusting a ventilator in hospital, or teaching a patient how to manage their breathing at home.
Why pay is rising
An older population means more patients with breathing problems such as pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. BLS also expects respiratory therapists to take on more work in outpatient care and in helping patients avoid returning to hospital, which could increase demand outside traditional hospital settings.
How to enter this field
Respiratory therapists typically need at least an associate degree from an accredited respiratory therapy program, and most states also require licensure. When competing for hospital or outpatient roles, your respiratory therapist resume should make your clinical experience easy to understand without simply repeating the duties in the job description.
10. Radiologic technologist and technician
- Median annual salary (2025): $80,110
- Annual salary growth (CAGR, 2022-2025): 7.1%
- Number of jobs (2025): 234,200
- Estimated jobs growth (2025-2035): 5.0%
- Typical education level: Associate’s degree
What they do
Radiologic technologists and technicians create the images doctors use to diagnose injuries and disease. Depending on the exam, the job might mean preparing a patient for an x-ray, carefully positioning the body, or checking that the final images are clear enough to support a diagnosis.
Why pay is rising
As the population ages and chronic health problems become more common, doctors are likely to need more diagnostic imaging. BLS expects scans to remain an important part of diagnosing conditions and planning treatment, which should keep demand for trained radiologic technologists steady.
How to enter this field
Radiologic technologists commonly enter the profession through an associate-degree program, with certification or licensing requirements depending on the state. When applying, a well-structured healthcare resume can help make your imaging training and clinical experience easy for employers to identify.
What the fastest-growing salaries have in common
1. Healthcare dominates the list
Healthcare roles make up half of the ranking, including dental hygienists, speech-language pathologists, registered nurses, respiratory therapists, and radiologic technologists and technicians. This gives healthcare a much stronger presence than any other sector on the list.
2. Tech remains prominent in 2026
Data scientists and web and digital interface designers both make the top 10, showing that high-paying tech careers are still seeing strong salary growth. However, unlike many high-salary rankings, this list is not dominated by management or executive roles.
3. Four-year degrees aren’t always required
A high salary doesn’t necessarily mean spending four years at college. Dental hygienists, respiratory therapists, and radiologic technologists and technicians all typically enter the field with an associate degree, according to BLS. All three also appear in our guide to the highest-paying jobs with an associate degree.
4. Fast-rising salaries don’t always mean fast-growing employment
Salary growth and job growth measure different things. This ranking looks at how quickly median pay increased between 2022 and 2025, while BLS employment projections show how the number of jobs is expected to change through 2035. A career can therefore see strong salary growth without being one of the fastest-growing occupations overall.
Why are salaries rising for these jobs?
Healthcare demand is keeping pressure on staffing
Healthcare accounts for half of the jobs on this list, and several of them are being pushed by the same long-term trend: more people need care. An aging population is increasing demand for nurses, respiratory therapists, imaging specialists, and speech-language pathologists, while dental hygienists are also seeing more demand for preventive care.
Many of these roles also require specific degrees, licenses, or clinical training, which makes it harder to quickly expand the workforce when demand rises. That combination may help explain why pay has been growing quickly across several healthcare careers.
AI and digital investment are supporting specialized tech salaries
For data scientists, AI is creating more work rather than simply replacing it. BLS expects employment in the field to grow 35% by 2035 as companies collect more data and use AI to support decisions, improve products, and change how they work.
Web and digital interface designers are seeing a different version of the same shift. Businesses still need strong websites and digital products as more activity moves online, particularly in ecommerce. AI tools may make some basic web work faster, but companies still need people who can decide how a digital product should work for the people using it.
Infrastructure and electrification are creating demand for technical expertise
Electrical engineers are becoming more important as companies invest in power systems and new technology. BLS points to projects involving solar energy, semiconductors, communications systems, and other electrical infrastructure as areas expected to support demand for these workers.
Architects are seeing demand from a different part of that investment. New construction and renovations still need people to turn project requirements into workable designs, with sustainable buildings becoming a bigger part of the field. New technology may speed up parts of the design process, but BLS expects architects to remain involved across more stages of a project.
How to position yourself for a higher-paying career
1. Identify transferable skills before changing careers
A higher-paying job doesn’t always require starting from scratch. Look at the skills your target role calls for, then compare them with work you’ve already done. Project management, client communication, data analysis, technical knowledge, or experience working in a regulated industry may carry over more easily than you expect.
Make those connections clear on your resume. Rather than simply listing responsibilities, focus on examples that prove you already have the transferable skills the new role needs. If you’re moving into a different field entirely, a career-change resume can help you reposition your existing experience around your new target role.
2. Target growing specialties within your field
Moving into a better-paid career can sometimes mean specializing rather than changing industries altogether. A nurse might move toward a particular area of care, for example, while someone working in technology could build deeper knowledge in data, AI, or user experience.
Pay attention to where employers are adding jobs and which skills appear repeatedly in job postings. Building experience in an area where demand is growing can give you a clearer route to higher-paying opportunities.
3. Quantify your value when negotiating salary
When you ask for higher pay, give your employer a reason to see the value you bring. Learning how to quantify your achievements can help you turn your work into concrete evidence, whether that means revenue generated, time saved, costs reduced, or improvements in performance.
Use numbers where they make sense. You might point to revenue you helped generate, time you saved, costs you reduced, projects you delivered, or an increase in the number of people or clients you support. The goal is to show how your work has changed, and why your pay should reflect it. Keeping track of these results can also give you stronger evidence when negotiating your salary or asking for a raise.
Conclusion
The clearest pattern in this year’s ranking is the value of specialized skills in fields where demand remains strong. Healthcare accounts for five of the 10 jobs, but high wage growth also appears in law, engineering, data, architecture, and digital design – showing that salary momentum is not confined to a single industry.
For job seekers, recent wage growth is best treated as one signal rather than a guarantee of future raises. Still, these occupations stand out because they combine high current pay, positive long-term employment projections, and strong recent wage momentum – three useful factors to consider when evaluating a career move.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
About Resume Genius
Since 2009, Resume Genius and its resume builder software have been helping people from all backgrounds and experience levels land their next jobs faster.
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About the Author
Jack Hulatt graduated from the University of Greenwich with a bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Relations before pursuing certifications in computer science and data analytics. In his short career, he has already worked on multiple entrepreneurial projects and as part of a larger team, giving him direct insight into the needs and wants of young job seekers today.
