Also, for somebody to say that salaries where they live/work are lower than the reported "mean annual wages" says little about the accuracy of the numbers. Take for example the case of attorneys. The fact the a lawyer working outside of a large metropolitan area earns less (or far less, it appears) than the $113K provided by Forbes, may be mathematically insignificant. In fact, New York, Chicago, D.C., L.A and other places where starting salaries are high account for the vast majority of attorneys in the country. In Boston, for example, a single office (without regard to how many other offices a firm has throughout the country/world) may employee 300+ attorneys. There are entire cities and towns accross the country that are not served by that many attorneys. Therefore, the salary of an attorney in Chicago is likely a better indicator of the average figure than is the salary of some lawyer in EBF.

Yes -- there'd be a big difference between a doctor (or lawyer) making that salary and paying his own malpractice premiums and a doctor (or lawyer) working for an employer who paid him that salary AND paid his premiums for him.

@Starfury: "I work for lawyers and I know that the Associates are getting much more than the $113k starting pay. The partners make even more."

At the largest firms in A VERY FEW PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. Associates start at about $50,000 here (with the same student loans, incidentally, as those making $145,000 starting; housing costs adjust with salary when you move somewhere smaller, but student loan payments don't). Very few partners make as much as $113,000 in my city. Many mid-range firms in "first-tier" cities (the ones where big firms start associates at $145k) start associates at around $80,000.

@WhatsMyNameAgain: "How do you find out how much Executive Directors of nonprofits make? Isn't that public information?"

Should be on the tax filings, maybe the 990?

That's often cited, but it's actually not true (malpractice for anesthesiologists is actually pretty low on the scale of things...about 20,000 depending on where you practice). They get sued quite a bit, but they are rarely found to be responsible.

Defending a lawsuit is a costly affair whether you win or lose.

Incidentally, I make over 200K a month... too bad it's not paid in dollars.

Since I work in a coffee shop I'm also wondering about those numbers. There is no way in hell they took tips into consideration there.

Yeah, right. You mean a bartender only reports enough tips not to get audited by the IRS.

Also, for executives, managers, etc. I expect that to be much, much higher when you consider bonuses, perks, travel, etc. This seems to only address raw salary.

And you wonder why the luggage is broken and you can't get information from anyone at the counter...

My job isn't listed, but depending on my mood, it's either flexible or depressingly poorly-paid.

and my "high-brow" comment of the day:
i didn't realize dishwasher was really a separate job. Thanks, Herb Copperbottom.

"Yeah, my ex was a bartended and "made" 17,000 a year. Not counting the 100k under his mattress."

Your ex was quite the smart investor, no?

Also, don't let any one fool you: parking cars is hard. Really hard. I'm not kidding (and yet, I sense you don't believe me). Try it, and get back to me.

I'm not sure I'd want it as a career, but I know plenty of people who do very well with it as a college or summer job.

I'm actually surprised by what the physicians make, but considering that it's an average and that there are lots of rural, government, residents, military, and so on, it kinds of drags the average down.

Shocked that 'Blogger' didn't make the list... Are bloggers paid as cash under the table?

I am guessing they study lumps all financial services jobs in one category, even though they apparently don't do that for the medical profession. To be fair if they are not going to single out Investment Bankers/Traders/Sales jobs they maybe they should lump all those docs together with nurses, support staff, dental hygentists, etc...

Same here. At least the excuse I use is that I dont have to pay for mal-research insurance.

There was a big bruhaha about the airlines having fewer air traffic controllers because they were trying to save money, not because they were having trouble hiring people.

When you charge $300-$550 per hour and bill 30-60 hours per week it adds up really fast.

I'd rather see a range of reported salaries.

I know that a lot of bartenders and servers only claim a fraction of their cash tips, so their income is actually much higher than what is listed on their W-2 at the end of the year.

This stat makes me really, really sad: Child care workers: $18,820