It only took a couple of minutes, but after reading Zippia.com's piece on the "100 Highest Paying Jobs in Illinois," I came to realize that I've made a vocational error. My mom, it turns out, was right. I should have become a dentist (#10 on the list).

First off, how did Zippia come up with the list?

We looked at the BLS’s (Bureau of Labor Statistics) data set for all 740 job classifications in Illinois in order to identify those that get paid the most. Pretty straightforward and easy to do when the government does your job for you :)

Wow. Pretty complicated stuff, huh? Let's see if we can muddle through the jobs list, or at the very least, the top ten. We'll start with the job, followed by the average salary, the entry-level salary, and the number of people in Illinois doing that particular job:

  1. Surgeons: $248,420/ $132,820/ #1,510
  2. Obstetricians and Gynecologists: $217,900/ $75,520/ #710
  3. Family and General Practitioners: $189,480/ $57,480/ #5,240
  4. Physicians and Surgeons, All Other: $189,390/ $52,860/ #13,830
  5. Anesthesiologists: $185,920/ $55,420/ #790
  6. Internists, General: $185,190/ $55,420/ #2,690
  7. Chief Executives: $175,490/ $55,740/ #21,360
  8. Podiatrists: $158,750/ $66,580/ #360
  9. Psychiatrists: $153,060/ $44,440/ #1,000
  10. Dentists, General: $149,400/ $56,080/ #3,610

It may be too late for me, but remember, you still have time to listen to my mom and become a dentist.

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