About This Quiz
It's pretty clear that a doctor makes more money than a fast-food worker. But does a surgeon bring home more bucks than an anesthesiologist? It can't hurt to find out -- and it might even boost your salary savvy.Nine of the best-paying jobs are in the medical field, according to the 2009 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates report.
The country's 2.7 million food service workers make an average of $17,400 a year.
In 2008, surgeons brought home an average of $206,770 a year, just a bit more than anesthesiologists.
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The average American worker brings home about $42,000 a year.
For some reason, surgeons in Gary, Ind., are by far the best-paid in the country.
Counter attendants at cafeterias and concession stands in Owensboro, Ky., bring home just $13,810 a year.
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People in the nation's capital make about $25,000 more than the national average.
South Dakota and Mississippi -- with an average annual salary of $33,000.
Locomotive engineers saw their salaries dip 15.4 percent in 2008 -- but they still make more than the national average.
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Orthodontists bring home about $197,000 a year, $7,000 more than the runner-up, oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
Coming in at No. 10 are the country's 300,000 CEOs, who pull down an average of $160,440. Move to New Jersey for the highest salaries.
Fast food preparers/servers come in at rock bottom.
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The nonprofit world encompasses a huge variety of jobs -- from hospital workers to college professors to charity CEOs -- but hospital internists take the cake. They earn an average of $141,939, a few hundred more than a nonprofit CEO.
Washington, D.C., tops the list again, and high-paying, regulated government jobs are to thank here.
Women in Mississippi, largely because of their low education levels, are at the bottom of the totem pole as far as pay.
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Mississippian women could, in theory, make $19,000 more per year if they moved to D.C.
Women make about 80 percent of what men make. But in high-paying places like Washington, D.C., that percentage goes up to 92.
You'll make about $1,000 more a year -- roughly $20,120 -- as a parking lot attendant.
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We don't know why, but you might want to move to Vermont if you're looking for a career as a parking lot attendant.
About a third of all hospital jobs are nonmedical, the worst-paying of which is child-care worker. They take home around $21,800 a year.