The 25 highest-paying companies of 2016

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If money is your No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 priorities when it comes to work, you might want to make sure you're qualified to work in technology or management consulting.

Here's why: Technology companies account for most of the 25 highest paying companies this year, according to a compilation of salary reports from users of the jobs site Glassdoor.

Consulting firms come in a distant second.

And Visa is the sole company representing finance on the list.

All of the companies in the top 25 offer median compensation of no less than $140,000, meaning half of employees earn more than that when combining their salary and bonuses or commissions.

Granted, many of the highest-paying employers are based in high-cost areas such as Silicon Valley and New York City. So that may partially account for the outsized median pay.

But median pay over $100,000 is rare, no matter where an employer is headquartered.

The most important driver of the big paychecks is the demand for highly skilled, well-educated workers, according to Glassdoor.

"In technology, we continue to see unprecedented salaries as the war for talent is still very active," said Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist.

At consulting firms, meanwhile, "salaries are sky-high ... due to 'barriers of entry,' which refer to employers wanting top consultants to have personal contacts, reputations and specialized skills and knowledge," Chamberlain noted.

Here's the full list of the top 25 highest paying companies this year:

1. A.T. Kearney

Median total compensation: $167,534

Median base salary: $143,620

2. Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company)

Median total compensation: $160,000

Median base salary: $147,000

3. Juniper Networks

Median total compensation: $157,000

Median base salary: $135,000

4. McKinsey & Company

Median total compensation: $155,000

Median base salary: $135,000

5. Google

Median total compensation: $153,750

Median base salary: $123,331

6. VMware

Median total compensation: $152,133

Median base salary: $130,000

7. Amazon Lab126

Median total compensation: $150,100

Median base salary: $138,700

8. Boston Consulting Group

Median total compensation: $150,020

Median base salary: $147,000

9. Guidewire

Median total compensation: $150,020

Median base salary: $135,000

10. Cadence Design Systems

Median total compensation: $150,010

Median base salary: $140,000

11. Visa

Median total compensation: $150,000

Median base salary: $130,000

12. Facebook

Median total compensation: $150,000

Median base salary: $127,406

13. Twitter

Median total compensation: $150,000

Median base salary: $133,000

14. Box

Median total compensation: $150,000

Median base salary: $130,000

15. Walmart eCommerce

Median total compensation: $149,000

Median base salary: $126,000

16. SAP

Median total compensation: $148,431

Median base salary: $120,000

17. Synopsys

Median total compensation: $148,000

Median base salary: $130,000

18. Altera

Median total compensation: $147,000

Median base salary: $134,000

19. LinkedIn

Median total compensation: $145,000

Median base salary: $120,000

20. Cloudera

Median total compensation: $145,000

Median base salary: $129,500

21. Salesforce

Median total compensation: $143,750

Median base salary: $120,000

22. Microsoft

Median total compensation: $141,000

Median base salary: $125,000

23. F5 Networks

Median total compensation: $140,200

Median base salary: $120,500

24. Adobe

Median total compensation: $140,000

Median base salary: $125,000

25. Broadcom

Median total compensation: $140,000

Median base salary: $130,000

*Note: There had to be at least 50 salary reports from U.S.-based Glassdoor users for a company to be on this list. In cases where companies tied in terms of total compensation, the company with the higher number of salary reports received a higher rank.

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