Physicians top U.S. best-paid list

What was true in the past continues to be true: doctors can make big bucks. According to Forbes magazine, anesthesiologists have the highest wages in the U.S., a mean annual income $184,340 per year. That's a 5.8 percent increase over last year. Coming in at a close second were surgeons, at a mean annual income of $184,150 per year. They too saw a pay increase from last year, in this case 3.6 percent. Other leaders were OB/GYNs ($178,040), orthodontists ($176,900), oral surgeons ($164,760) and internists ($160,860). The only two nonmedical professions on the magazine's top 15 list were CEOs and airline pilots. Forbes drew its numbers from the U.S. government's National, State and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates.

To get more data from the research:
- read this Forbes piece

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