DENVER – Denver’s an expensive place to live and it just keeps getting pricier, which may have you thinking of looking for a better-paying job.
Online real estate site Trulia released a report last week showing that home ownership is out of reach for many service-related professions in the Denver area, such as teaching, restaurant work and even some first responders.
Teachers, for example, have a median annual income of just over $50,000, and according to Trulia, that means only about 13 percent of available homes are affordable to them.
With an annual median income of more than $200,000, doctors have a much easier time getting by.
In fact, eight of the 10 highest-paying occupations in the Denver metro area are in the medical field, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The highest-paying non-medical profession? Chief executive of a business.
Here are the 15 highest-paying jobs in the metro area:
1. Dentist - specialist
2. Surgeon
3. Obstetrician/gynecologist
4. Chief executive
5. Family/general practitioner
6. Psychiatrist
7. Physician and surgeon - other
8. Airline pilot/copilot/engineer
9. Pediatrician
10. Internist
11. Athlete/sports competitor
12. Dentist – general
13. Petroleum engineer
14. Financial manager
15. Architectural/engineering manager
It’s worth pointing out that many of these professions – from the medical field to piloting a plane – require a lot of expensive schooling. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average amount of student loan debt for medical students in 2015 was just over $180,000.
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