What Are You Worth? - Part I


How important is money to you? As you consider your vocational future, how high up on your list of priorities is the earning potential of your job? If you're weighing the pros and cons of different careers, salary is sure to be one of the important factors you'll want to learn more about.

The Fall 1998 issue of the Occupational Outlook Quarterly published earnings of full-time workers in a wide variety of occupations. This is a rich source of information, and should be available to anyone trying to plan their career future.

This article will provide median annual earnings for 30 occupations. These averages reflect a midpoint among workers with different levels of education within an occupation.

Before examining at the earnings of specific occupations, however, let's take a look at the worth of education. The following figures are the median earnings of workers with different levels of education:

  • High School Graduates $23,317

  • Bachelor's Degree $36,155

  • Master's Degree $46,269

  • PhD or Professional Degree $65,890

  • Accountants & Auditors $37,047

  • Administrators, education and related fields $46,514

  • Administrators, public administration $46,162

  • Architects $45,495

  • Bookkeeping, accounting & auditing clerks $23,334

  • Chemists, except biochemists $47,067

  • Civil Engineers $51,514

  • Clergy $31,322

  • Clinical Laboratory Technologists & Technicians $40,225

  • Computer Programmers $44,243

  • Computer Systems Analysts & Scientists $50,187

  • Construction Supervisors $35,532

  • Construction trades, except supervisors $28,646

  • Data-entry Keyers $21,778

  • Dentists $80,004

  • Designers $33,052

  • Economists $55,727

  • Editors & Reporters $40,121

  • Educational & Vocational Counselors $32,536

  • Electrical & Electronic Engineers $55,127

  • Engineering Technologists & Technicians $35,652

  • Financial Managers $47,037

  • Food service & Lodging Managers $35,872

  • General Office Clerks $21,153

  • Guards $21,634

  • Industrial Engineers $49,601

  • Information clerks $21,412

  • Insurance adjusters, examiners, sales & investigators $35,210

  • Lawyers $76,803

  • Librarians $33,760

To view the second half of this article, covering earnings for 30 more careers, click "here".

The copyright of the article What Are You Worth? - Part I in Career Planning is owned by Deborah Lapoint. Permission to republish What Are You Worth? - Part I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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