Top-paying jobs
Anesthesiologists take home a median $292,000 salary annually. What other great careers from Money and PayScale.com's list of Best Jobs in America offer big paychecks?
4. Nurse Anesthetist
Best Jobs rank: 15
Median salary: $157,000
Top pay: $214,000
Like the anesthesiologists to whom they report, nurse anesthetists get paid to never make a mistake. Anesthesia mortality rates have fallen from two deaths per 10,000 in the 1980s to 1 per 200,000 today. That means nurse anesthetists must be at the top of their game, even when working a 2 a.m. shift or staffing the ER on New Year's Eve.NEXT: Sales Director
Last updated November 27 2009: 12:12 PM ET
Note: We looked at jobs from the top 100 with the highest top pay. When there were multiple job titles from the same category, we selected the job with the most familiar job title. Median salary is for an experienced worker (at least two to seven years in field). Top pay represents the 90th percentile.
