The Fastest Growing Salaries in the U.S.
Summary
From OneMain: A look through the jobs with the fastest growing salaries in the U.S. and how inflation affects salaries.
In this article:
- The jobs with the biggest salary increases since 2013 (adjusted for inflation)
- But…inflation
- How does inflation affect salary increases?
- Professional services took a hit
- Better news for healthcare
- Service industry loses purchasing power
- Manufacturing creeps ahead of inflation
- The states with the highest paying jobs
- No raise, no move? See where you can Trim
Plus hidden factors, and purchasing power realities
Money—and how to make the most of it—seems to be on everybody’s mind these days. Of course, since your job and stage of your career determines the money you have, it’s natural to think about them together. You may even be asking yourself, “*Should I consider switching careers or moving to another state to increase my salary? Should I stay where I am and ask for a raise?*”
Because we care about helping people create their brightest financial futures, we did some research to identify the jobs with the biggest salary bumps in the U.S. over the past 10 years. After pinpointing the best paying jobs across the country (before inflation), we grouped them by category, focusing on the occupations with the highest number of employees in 2023, and adjusted them for inflation.
The jobs with the biggest salary increases since 2013 (adjusted for inflation)
But…inflation
Are those fast-growing salaries really paying off? It’s important to understand that while some salaries appear to be growing by leaps and bounds, looks can be deceiving. What appears to be a decent jump may only be a hop—or even a step backward—when you factor in inflation.
Even though the projected average total salary increase has risen to 4.6%, price increases have caused a serious drop in consumers’ purchasing power.
How does inflation affect salary increases?
Price increases resulted in several professions experiencing a significant loss in their salaries’ value over the last decade. In fact, we found that only 37% of the top 100 jobs have increased the rate of pay more than the rate of inflation over the last 10 years. For example, Clinical Laboratory Technicians’ average salary in 2012 was $84,330 when adjusted for inflation. In 2022, the average salary adjusted for inflation was $75,380—a 10.6% drop in monetary value.
Professional services took a hit
The professional services industry rises to the top as the biggest employer in the U.S., with approximately 23.02 million people in the field as of September 2023. While this industry has seen notable salary increases over time, not everybody wins.
| Job | Salary increase | Salary increase adjusted for inflation |
|---|---|---|
| Paralegal | 26% | -1.2% |
| Public Relations Specialist | 24% | -2.3% |
| Technical Writer | 22% | -4.2% |
| Lawyer | 20% | -6.2% |
Better news for healthcare
Nursing secures the spot of most prevalent healthcare profession, with nearly 5.2 million registered nurses nationwide. Nurses in 2012 had an average salary of $89,960 compared to $121,610 in 2022 — a 35% increase over time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even after adjustment for inflation, this increase represented a 6.1% rise. Likewise, home health aides had an average salary of $20,820 in 2012, which rose to an average of $30,180 — a 45% increase over 10 years. After inflation adjustment, this increase came out to 13.8%.
While inflation did impact the professions below, their salaries didn’t suffer a monetary loss once adjusted, with the increase staying in the positive percentages.
| Job | Salary increase | Salary increase adjusted for inflation |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic Counselor | 58% | 24.3% |
| Home Health Aide / Personal Care Aide | 48% | 13.8% |
| Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon | 43% | 12.2% |
| Hearing Aid Specialist | 42% | 11.8% |
| Psychiatrist | 39% | 9.3% |
| Massage Therapist | 39% | 8.8% |
| Physician Assistant | 39% | 8.7% |
| Medical Records Technician | 38% | 8.4% |
| Nurse Practitioner | 35% | 6.1% |
| Nurse Anesthetist | 33% | 4.6% |
Service industry loses purchasing power
Sales, personal services and food services are also popular choices of work for Americans. As of May 2022, there were over 5 million service workers in the U.S. And, jobs in the sales, personal services and food service industries have seen notable salary increases over the past 10 years.
Because the discrepancy between the salary increase and its adjusted amount after inflation is so large for the professions below, you can see how there's more to the raise than meets the eye. The true purchasing power after factoring in the effects of inflation is much lower than you might think.
| Job | Salary increase | Salary increase adjusted for inflation |
|---|---|---|
| Nail Technician | 55% | 27.1% |
| Restaurant Cook | 55% | 27.1% |
| Cashier | 49% | 11.8% |
| Recreation and Fitness Worker | 42% | 16.8% |
Manufacturing creeps ahead of inflation
Manufacturing jobs didn’t make the list of the top 100 jobs, so weren’t included in the categories above, but it remains a significant industry. So, we looked at some of the top-level figures to give you a glimpse into what’s impacting salaries in this field.
Employment in manufacturing has grown 1.5% annually in the last 10 years, reaching 13 million people in September 2023. Average earnings in the industry increased by 5% in the last year alone, just ahead of inflation, and stand at $33 per hour according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The states with the highest paying jobs
No raise, no move? See where you can Trim
If a raise isn’t a possibility at your current role, or a job move just isn’t feasible right now, finding new ways to manage your budget may make your finances a little easier to navigate. Our free budget calculator can help you see exactly where your money is going each month, so you can make the best financial decisions today and in the future. Just enter your monthly income and expenses, as well as any savings goals you’d like to achieve, and we’ll reveal exactly what money you have left over to save, invest or spend. Money confidence may feel daunting in the current landscape, but the right tools and knowledge can help make it a little bit easier.
Methodology
The list of 100 jobs was collated from U.S. News Best Jobs and Indeed's Most Common Jobs in America lists. These jobs were then matched to the occupations used in the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, where salary estimates for the matching occupations were then found. Annual median salary estimates were used wherever possible, but for occupations where median estimates weren't available (mostly in the medical/healthcare field), mean estimates were used instead. For each occupation, the five states with the highest salaries reported in 2022 were listed using state tables of the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
The 10-year difference in salaries was calculated as the difference between the 2022 salary estimate for a given occupation and its 2012 salary estimate, expressed as a percentage. Annual average growth rate (AAGR) was calculated as the average of year-over-year change in salary for each of the years between 2012 and 2022. Inflation-adjusted salary estimates were calculated using a Consumer Price Index-based inflation calculator in 2013 dollars, converting all estimates to 2022 dollars.
Data correct as of August 2023.
This article is for general education and informational purposes, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any purpose and is not intended to be and does not constitute financial, legal, tax, or any other advice. Parties (other than sponsored partners of OneMain Financial (OMF)) referenced in the article are not sponsors of, do not endorse, and are not otherwise affiliated with OMF.
