{"h1":"Industries with the highest posted pay","faq":[{"a":"Technology & Software has the highest median posted pay of any industry: $185k a year across its openings that state a salary.","q":"Which industry ranks first: industries with the highest posted pay?"},{"a":"17 industries have at least 30 openings with pay posted, so the list has 17 entries.","q":"How many industries are ranked?"},{"a":"An industry's score is its median posted annual salary, among open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. A posting's industry is read into the same groups the industry pages use. Only industries with at least 30 openings that post a salary are ranked.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Technology & Software has the highest median posted pay of any industry: $185k a year across its openings that state a salary.","minN":30,"rows":[{"n":26503,"bar":1,"key":"industry:Technology & Software","sub":"","href":"/industries/technology-and-software","name":"Technology & Software","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"74,925"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"16,800"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$185k"}],"value":185000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$185k"},{"n":2249,"bar":0.9864864864864865,"key":"industry:Pharmaceuticals & Biotech","sub":"","href":"/industries/pharmaceuticals-and-biotech","name":"Pharmaceuticals & Biotech","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"13,833"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"2,608"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$183k"}],"value":182500,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$183k"},{"n":5712,"bar":0.845945945945946,"key":"industry:Financial Services & Banking","sub":"","href":"/industries/financial-services-and-banking","name":"Financial Services & Banking","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"33,490"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"9,249"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$157k"}],"value":156500,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$157k"},{"n":1937,"bar":0.7945945945945946,"key":"industry:Aerospace & Defense","sub":"","href":"/industries/aerospace-and-defense","name":"Aerospace & Defense","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"20,022"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"5,007"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$147k"}],"value":147000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$147k"},{"n":2007,"bar":0.7567567567567568,"key":"industry:Energy & Utilities","sub":"","href":"/industries/energy-and-utilities","name":"Energy & Utilities","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"9,876"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"2,802"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$140k"}],"value":140000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$140k"},{"n":4689,"bar":0.7548648648648648,"key":"industry:Healthcare & Hospital Systems","sub":"","href":"/industries/healthcare-and-hospital-systems","name":"Healthcare & Hospital Systems","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"31,963"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"7,515"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$140k"}],"value":139650,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$140k"},{"n":1384,"bar":0.7464864864864865,"key":"industry:Media & Entertainment","sub":"","href":"/industries/media-and-entertainment","name":"Media & Entertainment","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"7,272"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"1,884"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$138k"}],"value":138100,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$138k"},{"n":2831,"bar":0.7297297297297297,"key":"industry:Professional Services & Consulting","sub":"","href":"/industries/professional-services-and-consulting","name":"Professional Services & Consulting","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"19,060"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"5,504"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$135k"}],"value":135000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$135k"},{"n":5141,"bar":0.7027027027027027,"key":"industry:Manufacturing & Industrial","sub":"","href":"/industries/manufacturing-and-industrial","name":"Manufacturing & Industrial","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"42,907"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"14,100"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$130k"}],"value":130000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$130k"},{"n":2308,"bar":0.68,"key":"industry:Retail & E-commerce","sub":"","href":"/industries/retail-and-e-commerce","name":"Retail & E-commerce","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"22,283"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"6,294"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$126k"}],"value":125800,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$126k"},{"n":362,"bar":0.6391891891891892,"key":"industry:Agriculture & Food Production","sub":"","href":"/industries/agriculture-and-food-production","name":"Agriculture & Food Production","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"2,175"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"668"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$118k"}],"value":118250,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$118k"},{"n":957,"bar":0.6351351351351351,"key":"industry:Transportation & Logistics","sub":"","href":"/industries/transportation-and-logistics","name":"Transportation & Logistics","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"6,275"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"2,284"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$118k"}],"value":117500,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$118k"},{"n":909,"bar":0.6216216216216216,"key":"industry:Construction & Real Estate","sub":"","href":"/industries/construction-and-real-estate","name":"Construction & Real Estate","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"4,788"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"1,452"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$115k"}],"value":115000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$115k"},{"n":4009,"bar":0.6081081081081081,"key":"industry:Government & Public Sector","sub":"","href":"/industries/government-and-public-sector","name":"Government & Public Sector","rank":14,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"9,977"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"3,274"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$113k"}],"value":112500,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$113k"},{"n":1115,"bar":0.6002027027027027,"key":"industry:Nonprofit & Social Impact","sub":"","href":"/industries/nonprofit-and-social-impact","name":"Nonprofit & Social Impact","rank":15,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"7,232"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"1,926"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$111k"}],"value":111037.5,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$111k"},{"n":171,"bar":0.5437837837837838,"key":"industry:Telecommunications","sub":"","href":"/industries/telecommunications","name":"Telecommunications","rank":16,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"836"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"272"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$101k"}],"value":100600,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$101k"},{"n":1595,"bar":0.5351351351351351,"key":"industry:Education & EdTech","sub":"","href":"/industries/education-and-edtech","name":"Education & EdTech","rank":17,"stats":[{"label":"Open roles","value":"14,924"},{"label":"Roles asking for AI skills","value":"4,408"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$99k"}],"value":99000,"change":null,"employers":[],"valueLabel":"$99k"}],"slug":"industries-with-the-highest-posted-pay","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Industries with the highest posted pay","family":"Industries","method":["An industry's score is its median posted annual salary, among open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. A posting's industry is read into the same groups the industry pages use.","Only industries with at least 30 openings that post a salary are ranked."],"builtAt":"2026-11-03T03:39:03.000Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"indpay","sources":["NextChapter job data: posted annual salary ranges"],"baseline":null,"keyFacts":["#1 Technology & Software: $185k","#2 Pharmaceuticals & Biotech: $183k","#3 Financial Services & Banking: $157k","17 industries ranked across all industries","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"industries","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Technology & Software leads on $185k, and #10 Retail & E-commerce is at $126k.","Media & Entertainment reaches #7 on a sample of 1,384 openings with pay posted, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.","Technology & Software is the largest market in the top ten, with 26,503 openings with pay posted behind its figure.","Industries with fewer than 30 openings with pay posted are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/industries-with-the-highest-posted-pay"}