National Salary Range: Researching Salaries by Job Title

By looking at income across the United States, and comparing salaries by job title, industry, city and other influential factors, we find significant variation within the national salary range. Texas Teacher Salaries are not the same as New Jersey teacher salaries, pharmacist salaries vary by employment setting, and CEO Salaries may be very different from one industry to the next. From law to nursing, salaries for all professions are influenced by experience, location and many other factors. With so many variables affecting the average job income, comparing salaries by job title, as in the chart above, only shows part of the picture when it comes to describing a national salary range. However, looking at a list of salaries by profession does give us an overview of national salary differences. By taking a cross section of salaries by job title and looking at the median salary range for each position, we can see that software engineer salaries are at the top of the national salary range while the average income for administrative assistants is at the lower end of the national salary range. Based on the above list of job salaries, information technology and construction are clearly fields that tend to have higher salaries than retail management or teaching.

What is the Average Income in the U.S?

Looking beyond salaries by job title, the chart on National Salary Range by Years of Experience also provides insight into salary trends in the U.S. At the low end of the national salary range, employees with less than one year of experience earn a median income of about $44,000. After at least 20 years of experience, the median annual income increases to around $74,000. Tracking the national salary range by years of experience shows that the average job income tends to jump significantly after five and ten years of experience. Perhaps more importantly, though, is the evidence that salaries for all professions tend to increase over time. Breaking down the national salary range into Salaries by City, we can see that median job salaries are fairly similar across major U.S. cities, ranging from about $60,000 in Atlanta to around $67,000 in New York. This gives us a general view of what people in these cities are earning, but cost of living is another important factor to consider when researching salaries by city. There might be a $7,000 difference in average income between Atlanta and New York, but a Cost of Living Comparison between the two cities reveals that the cost of housing alone is 77 percent lower in Atlanta. You can use the PayScale Cost of Living Calculator to find both cost of living data and the median salary range for jobs in other U.S. cities.

To find specific income data for a given profession, we would have to look beyond the national salary range and ask some detailed questions. What is the Salary of a Pharmacist after five years of experience? Are sports broadcaster salaries higher in television or radio? How does education affect a nuclear medicine technologist salary? What city offers the best Musician Salary? No matter what job interests you, many questions can be answered by researching PayScale's salary data. Start your research with the list of job salaries below.

Salaries by Profession

Architect Salaries
Real Estate Salaries
Physician Salaries
Engineer Salaries
Medical Salaries