10 Highest Paying Jobs For Women

Common perspectives about women in the job market are shifting, and the availability of job roles for women is steadily increasing.

Many stereotypical assumptions relate to the types of jobs that women have. In contemporary industries, though, women have replaced this outdated outlook and are now flourishing and thriving in sectors once dominated by men. Not only do women dominate some industries, but they also earn a lucrative wage.

If you’re a woman searching for a new career path and want to find a position that is highly paid, then you’ve come to the right place.

In this guide, I’ll present the 10 Highest Paying Jobs For Women- so you know which jobs and industries to look out for.

Are Women Paid Equally To Men?

Despite historical triumph and continual progress to gender inequality and the wage gap, as of 2021, women were only earning 80% of what men earn. This is a prevalent and ongoing controversial issue that many speculate.

Though progress has been made, we are still far behind in achieving complete equality in this regard. Recent studies reveal insight into equal pay for women. According to Payscale, In 2021, women make only $0.82 for every dollar that a male worker earns. Though the difference of $0.18 may sound like a minimal amount, it adds up.

Is the gender pay gap improving?

Slowly but surely. Despite best efforts to improve the gender pay gap, slow progress was made between 2019-2020, and women received a minuscule cent more than what they made in 2020. Though it’s evident that there are some improvements, it’s still not good enough because women are essentially getting paid less for the exact same job.

Equal pay, therefore, remains a momentous issue that is globally advocated by women that strive to accomplish equality in the workplace.

Which Industries Are The Highest Paid For Women?

The highest-paid industries for women to pursue are healthcare, law, tech roles, and management. There are various roles in these industries that women dominate and are found to be naturally better at than men.

Some popular roles to pursue as a woman are becoming a lawyer, software developer, manager, pharmacist, and physicist. Though, we’ll be listing the top ten highest paying jobs for women a bit later to give you an accurate idea. If you’re curious about the highest paid industry to earn money as a woman, then here’s what to know…

The Best Industry To Make Money As A Woman

The healthcare industry remains the highest paying job sector in the US job market today for both women and men. This industry is expected to grow to another 16% by 2030. The demand for healthcare jobs remains high, and women have historically and contemporarily dominated this sector too.

An average of 60% of women work in healthcare, and the highest paying roles are nurse practitioners, physicists, and physical therapists. In some of these healthcare fields, according to recent studies, women were statistically found to dominate these jobs by nearly 70%.

The 10 Highest Paying Jobs For Women

Listed below are the highest-paying jobs for women. The expected pay amount varies according to which company you work for, your experience, and your qualifications. All of these roles have increasing employment growth too, so expect your salary and the demand of work to only get higher.

All of these roles, however, are mid-level to senior positions and are specialized, which require years of qualifying and training. So many of these roles do not include entry-level positions if you’re just starting in your career with no prior experience.

Physician Assistant

What They Do:

It’s estimated that women contribute to nearly 70% of this field. The role of a Physician Assistant (PA) is to examine patients, complete medical assessment, and diagnose patients. They are supervised by physicals and are also qualified to prescribe medication and provide care treatment plans.

PAs are in regular contact with other healthcare professionals such as surgeons, doctors, and nurses and often collaborate or make referrals to other specialists. PA’s work in diverse healthcare facilities, surgeries, hospitals, and out-care patient centers.

Why Women Like This Profession:

Working as a Physician Assistant is great for women that want a flexible work routine and a schedule that can be adjustable. This role also offers secure work and a high-paying salary that boosts an attractive outlook and overall career satisfaction for most.

Moreover, becoming a Physician Assistant is less work when completing education to qualify compared to a doctor or physician- and this is what appeals to those not wanting to spend several years training.

How Much They Earn:

As a PA, expect to earn around $95,000 a year.

Nurse Practitioner

What They Do:

Nurse practitioners are responsible for the primary and secondary care of patients, and women make up nearly 80% of these roles. Areas differ from acute to long-term care, and nurse practitioners also work with patients with physical and mental health conditions.

Nurse practitioners are also known as advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) and are largely responsible for assessing patients’ needs, diagnosing, and prescribing medications. Though their scope is limited to some medical areas, and they cannot work with complex medical issues. Some nurse practitioners must therefore refer to other specialists or be supervised when handling some cases.

It takes a woman…

Working as a nurse in a field largely dominated by women and naturally, this career choice is an appealing prospect for some women due to the empathic and attentive characteristics that are necessary to progress in this role.

Why Women Like This Profession:

This job is increasingly popular amongst women for a variety of reasons. There’s an attraction to helping others recover and get better, and directly working with patients is considered an enjoyable aspect of careers in the healthcare industry. The notion of giving and supporting others relates to their unspoken nature of giving and helping others.

In the medical industry, and as specialists, it can be enjoyable to communicate and collaborate with others in this field. There are many career opportunities as a Nurse Practitioner; it remains an important role in the healthcare industry; therefore, the wages on offer make this field attractive for most women.

How Much They Earn:

As a Nurse Practitioner expect to earn around $75,000 a year.

Physical Therapist

What They Do:

It is estimated that women make up nearly 70% of Physical Therapist’s jobs. The role of a Physical Therapist is to examine patients and assess how they can best recover from physical injuries and illnesses.

This work integrates more of a hands-on approach to treatment plans and uses exercises and techniques to help restore a patient’s body, reduce pain, and help prevent further disability and health issues from occurring. Physical Therapists will often review the medical history of a patient and create an individualized plan to help them recover.

Why Women Like This Profession:

Most Physical Therapists work independently, and therefore they have a healthy work-life balance routine. They can choose when to work because they are independent.

This career is also a demanding one which means there’s always an abundance of work and a competitive pay rate that is above average. Women also report the advantages of this job are the assortment of work environments on offer and report a high job satisfaction rate.

How Much They Earn:

As a Physical Therapist expect to earn around $57,837 a year.

Physician

What They Do:

Physicians are responsible for treating individuals with injuries, illnesses, and diseases. Physicians are a competitive role and highly paid because they require a medical degree and license to work. The main responsibilities include examining patients, giving diagnostic tests, offering advice on physical health concerns, and providing treatment plans for recovery.

Why Women Like This Profession:

Becoming a Physician is an attractive role for women to pursue because of the high pay and career benefits. Though, according to the New York Times, Women Earn $2 Million Less Than Men in 2021 relative to careers as physicians. There are many opportunities to advance your career in this role, and it remains a lucrative job to secure.

Women like it because of the unpredictable nature of the job and the variety of work available, which can be more interesting compared to the other roles. Women perform well in this role because it requires a great deal of communication, is a secure job, and you get to meet and build therapeutic work relationships.

How Much They Earn:

Expect to be paid around $90,000 per year to work as a Physician.

Pharmacist

What They Do:

A Pharmacist is another role in the healthcare industry, and work environments can vary to clinics, hospitals, as well as shopping centers. They are responsible for manufacturing and dispensing drugs to treat acute or serious illnesses.

A pharmacist can offer drugs to medicare conditions that are prescribed by a doctor or physicist. Though they cannot prescribe medications to others, they can offer advice on what drugs to take for physical health conditions.

Why Women Like This Profession:

It’s possible to skip several years of training to become a Pharmacist if you choose not to complete the regular route in education. Instead, many opportunities offer Pharmacist roles ranging from a clinical and retail setting; responsibilities can differ depending on the company you work for.

You’ll be compensated with a competitive wage, and there’s a constant demand for work as a Pharmacist, so there’s no need to worry about job security.

How Much They Earn:

According to the latest data, a Pharmacist expects to earn around $100,000, which tops the highest paid job so far.

Psychologist

What They Do:

A psychologist is responsible for helping others overcome mental difficulties by offering evidence-based approaches and offering support, guidance, and psychological intervention. The scope of their work is broad and can include various types of psychology, such as working with children, adults, or in an educational, occupational, or psychotherapeutic setting.

Psychology is an ideal route to take because you can decide on the type of work you do and which area you’d like to specialize in. There are long-term and short-term health conditions that psychologists can help their clients with.

Why Women Like This Profession:

Women make up nearly 80% of all psychologists – naturally, they possess the biological qualities that enable them to be better at this role. Women harness the ability to have more of an empathetic nature to listen to others and help those in need.

Therefore, women are predisposed to such careers compared to men and report finding it enjoyable to communicate, interact and build therapeutic relations with others. No two days are the same either because of the individualized and personal difficulties that clients face.

How Much They Earn:

Expect to be paid an average of $84,000 per year for a psychologist role.

Software Developer

What They Do:

The role of a software developer is to create programs using technical skills in the computer industry. Developers are responsible for building programs and making sure they can be operated with ease. Programs are built considering the popular needs of the consumer market and are targeted towards clients.

Some main responsibilities are testing and developing software, evaluating the quality of application programs, and trying to improve their functionality for mobile and computer devices.

Why Women Like This Profession:

This role evokes creativity and encourages the developer to think outside the box to make new programs and technology work. Perks of this role include remote work opportunities, learning new skills regularly, and exploring new ways to innovate software and technology in the field.

How Much They Earn:

Expect to be paid an average of $80,000 for entry-level roles and much higher for senior positions.

Human Resource Director

What They Do:

Human Resource Directors are responsible for handling policies, decision making, strategizing, and handling financial matters within a company. Depending on the size of the organization that you work in, you may have different responsibilities, and your daily duties will vary.

Mostly you’ll be working in business administration and must have strong organizational skills to work in this role.

Why Women Like This Profession:

With nearly 80% of jobs in this field being dominated by women, a Human Resource Director is an independent role that offers flexibility and control. This role requires a natural flair for leading, communicating, and problem-solving and is, therefore, an attractive job to consider.

Women have been studied to harness strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills, which promote their ability to handle this role successfully. It can be a challenging position to maintain that is characteristic of a high workload and multi-tasking. Though this is what makes it highly attractive for some women to pursue, and in return, they are compensated with an unbeatable salary.

How Much They Earn:

Expect to be paid an average of $97,000 a year.

Lawyer

What They Do:

The role of a lawyer is to counsel and provide legal advice to clients during court proceedings, and this role includes many specialists. This role involves working for clients, organizations, businesses, and even the government to settle disputes and make legal arrangements.

The job of the lawyer is to act as a mediator, advisor, researching, gathering evidence, and arguing to defend clients against allegations or prosecute the opposite side.

Why Women Like This Profession:

Pursuing a career in law can be challenging but rewarding, and this is the main reason why legal roles are considered satisfying. This role is also appealing because you can decide to specialize in a legal sector and widely represent clients for many reasons. Therefore, the variety is appealing, as well as receiving a high paid salary.

If you’re a natural communicator, despite the high workload or pressures of fulfilling this role diligently, it’s a rewarding career to pursue after several years of education and training and makes it one of the most desirable for women.

How Much They Earn:

Expect to be paid an average of $86,000 per year.

Public Relations Manager

What Do They Do:

Working in Public Relations involves maintaining a public image in the news and media by researching, using business marketing techniques, and maintaining strong PR campaigns to implement, plan and promote an organization. Working in Public Relations is relevant to maintaining strong credibility and attracting others to invest.

Why Women Like This Profession:

As a largely dominated female workforce, working in public relations is at the heart of an organization. There are many attractive perks for women to pursue. This job requires excellent communication skills, the ability to organize and lead a team and have a strong creative vision. Characteristics of this role demand persuasiveness, decision-making, and handling an independent work routine.

Despite the demanding and hectic nature of this job, it is highly rewarding, well paid, and challenging, which in turn is concluded to be a rewarding industry to choose.

How Much They Earn:

Expect to be paid an average of $56,000 per year for a managerial position.

The Highlights

The gender inequality gap is an ongoing issue, but to combat these disparities, there are many high-paying roles for women that can be pursued to overcome any challenges that women face and advocate for a brighter future.

Despite the knock-backs from stereotypical assumptions surrounding the pay gap, such as women having to care for their families or going on pregnancy leave – it’s no longer acceptable to make these ignorant assumptions.

Women are progressing slowly…

Over the past 15 years, women typically earn 84% of what men earn in similar roles, so there remains a prevailing struggle, yet steadily we are progressing. Moreover, it’s becoming increasingly acknowledged that women can perform the same jobs as men despite the differences in pay.

The most cited reasons that attempt to justify lower pay wages for women relate to educational, experience, and occupational differences with limited opportunities for women in these areas.

Empowering Women In The Modern Age

We all know that things in the past haven’t always been the easiest for women in the workplace…but it’s a whole new future out there today!

So, let’s take a look at these empowering and insightful books I found online such as How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job, and the Power Moves: How Women Can Pivot, Reboot, and Build a Career of Purpose, or The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You: Command an Audience and Sell Your Way to Success and much much more!

Next, why not try reading up on The Myth Of The Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate, or even Women, Language, & Power: Giving Voice to Our Ambition, and the Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers also available online in 2023.

Lastly, we recommend reading the Women in Tech: Take Your Career to the Next Level with Practical Advice and Inspiring Stories, and how about The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It for some great inspiration!

Final Thoughts

Every industry worldwide must promote equal opportunities for women in the workplace. As well as provide equal pay and eliminate gender discrimination.

Acknowledging this goal should be at the forefront of all occupations. The gender pay gap should be recognized as a persuasive issue. Controversy aside, this guide aimed to highlight which industries women could pursue to achieve the highest paying roles. And I’ve provided insight into the top occupations and how much you should expect to earn.

If you require further guidance, you can research your desired occupation and learn how to move forward with your new career.

The very best of luck with landing your ideal job as a woman!