Negotiation room by occupation

In some jobs, employers pay almost the same; in others, the 75th percentile earns far more than the 25th. We ranked 752 occupations in the US by that spread, using BLS OEWS May 2025 base pay. A wider spread suggests more room to negotiate.

Download CSV

Most room to negotiate

The 25 occupations with the widest spread between the 25th and 75th percentile of annual base pay in the US.

#	Occupation	25th	Median	75th	75th ÷ 25th	90th ÷ 10th
1	Surgeons, All Other	$134,850	$414,010	$511,420	3.79×	8.16×
2	Physicians, All Other	$102,930	$265,930	$378,770	3.68×	6.54×
3	Dermatologists	$139,990	$328,730	$452,450	3.23×	5.63×
4	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$124,470	$256,560	$374,850	3.01×	6.46×
5	Athletes and Sports Competitors	$36,790	$66,710	$109,880	2.99×	28.01×
6	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric	$180,610	$358,550	$530,700	2.94×	7.83×
7	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	$75,690	$107,310	$210,370	2.78×	5.43×
8	Chief Executives	$129,540	$213,990	$356,200	2.75×	6.71×
9	Artists and Related Workers, All Other	$42,010	$71,240	$115,150	2.74×	3.74×
10	Personal Financial Advisors	$72,440	$105,070	$176,790	2.44×	7.11×
11	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$173,650	$300,080	$421,530	2.43×	4.89×
12	Anesthesiologists	$207,000	$391,490	$490,530	2.37×	5.49×
13	Psychiatrists	$154,150	$281,870	$362,740	2.35×	5.31×
14	Orthodontists	$146,580	$289,140	$342,300	2.33×	4.17×
15	Radiologists	$216,800	$420,860	$506,010	2.33×	6.68×
16	General and Operations Managers	$72,320	$105,770	$167,280	2.31×	5.06×
17	Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	$63,670	$82,890	$146,430	2.30×	5.93×
18	Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents	$56,540	$78,660	$129,950	2.30×	4.43×
19	Neurologists	$155,990	$248,560	$357,990	2.29×	5.41×
20	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$85,710	$153,990	$194,950	2.27×	4.72×
21	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$184,830	$335,550	$418,890	2.27×	4.79×
22	Commercial Pilots	$84,540	$123,220	$190,440	2.25×	4.53×
23	Cardiologists	$274,280	$496,010	$610,060	2.22×	6.64×
24	Real Estate Brokers	$46,480	$73,220	$103,360	2.22×	3.86×
25	Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators	$37,560	$55,490	$83,200	2.21×	4.56×

Least room to negotiate

The 10 occupations where pay is most similar across employers.

#	Occupation	25th	Median	75th	75th ÷ 25th	90th ÷ 10th
1	Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products	$34,320	$35,730	$38,260	1.11×	1.50×
2	Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	$34,320	$35,660	$38,840	1.13×	1.39×
3	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents	$90,650	$96,660	$102,960	1.14×	1.31×
4	Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	$36,420	$38,670	$42,940	1.18×	1.55×
5	School Bus Monitors	$31,760	$35,100	$37,760	1.19×	1.54×
6	Nuclear Power Reactor Operators	$109,440	$122,890	$130,490	1.19×	1.51×
7	Food Processing Workers, All Other	$36,410	$39,680	$44,130	1.21×	1.49×
8	Forest and Conservation Workers	$37,440	$43,680	$45,760	1.22×	1.69×
9	Manicurists and Pedicurists	$34,010	$35,760	$41,650	1.23×	1.73×
10	Food Servers, Nonrestaurant	$31,190	$35,360	$38,500	1.23×	1.65×

The jobs on our salary pages

National ranking of the 30 occupations we cover in detail (rank out of 752).

Flight Attendants#106 · 1.85×
Dentists, General#138 · 1.78×
Firefighters#169 · 1.74×
Electricians#196 · 1.70×
Information Security Analysts#224 · 1.67×
Electrical Engineers#249 · 1.65×
Accountants and Auditors#257 · 1.64×
Veterinarians#260 · 1.64×
Software Developers#262 · 1.64×
Civil Engineers#281 · 1.62×
Paralegals and Legal Assistants#325 · 1.59×
Mechanical Engineers#344 · 1.58×
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians#410 · 1.52×
Paramedics#455 · 1.48×
Surgical Technologists#476 · 1.46×
Nurse Anesthetists#515 · 1.42×
Occupational Therapists#528 · 1.41×
Physical Therapists#540 · 1.41×
Registered Nurses#557 · 1.40×
Physician Assistants#608 · 1.36×
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers#626 · 1.35×
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers#651 · 1.33×
Nurse Practitioners#653 · 1.33×
Respiratory Therapists#657 · 1.32×
Pharmacy Technicians#665 · 1.32×
Dental Assistants#683 · 1.31×
Dental Hygienists#698 · 1.30×
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses#705 · 1.29×
Medical Assistants#712 · 1.28×
Pharmacists#731 · 1.25×

Methodology

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 — annual wage percentiles for detailed occupations, national and by state.
Measure: the ratio of the 75th to the 25th percentile (the spread of the middle half of workers). We also show the 90th-to-10th ratio. Rankings use the 75/25 ratio because it is less sensitive to extreme values.
Included: occupations with all five published percentiles and at least 5,000 jobs. Occupations with missing or top-coded percentiles are left out, because they would distort the spread.
Base pay only: OEWS includes commissions, production bonuses and tips, but not year-end bonuses, stock, overtime or benefits.
What it means — and doesn't: a wide spread shows that pay for the same job differs a lot between workers and employers (experience, location, employer size and specialty all play a part). That suggests more room to negotiate, but it is a pattern in the data, not a promise about any one offer.
Updates: we refresh this page when BLS publishes new OEWS estimates. Last updated 2026-10-22.

Cite or embed

You're welcome to use these numbers with attribution: “PayCall, Negotiation room by occupation, based on BLS OEWS May 2025.” Copy this snippet to link to the page:

<p>Pay spread by occupation: <a href="https://paycall.ai/data/negotiation-room-by-occupation">Negotiation room by occupation</a> — PayCall analysis of BLS OEWS May 2025 data.</p>