--- title: "Highest-Paying Jobs With an Associate's Degree" description: "Occupations whose typical education needed for entry, as recorded by BLS Employment Projections, is an associate's degree, ranked by national median…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/highest-paying-jobs-with-an-associate-degree" last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z" --- # Highest-Paying Jobs With an Associate's Degree Occupations whose typical education needed for entry, as recorded by BLS Employment Projections, is an associate's degree, ranked by national median annual wage. Occupations reached with a certificate or with a bachelor's degree are on their own lists. 30 occupations, in the ranked order the career bank computed. Wages are BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth figures are BLS Employment Projections and education is the BLS "typical education needed for entry". | # | Occupation | Median annual wage | Projected growth | Typical education | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [Air Traffic Controller](https://nuecareer.com/careers/air-traffic-controller) | $148,080 | +1.2% | Associate's | | 2 | [Nuclear Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-technician) | $110,240 | -7.7% | Associate's | | 3 | [Radiation Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/radiation-therapist) | $105,310 | +1.9% | Associate's | | 4 | [Nuclear Medicine Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-medicine-technologist) | $101,370 | +3.0% | Associate's | | 5 | [Dental Hygienist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-hygienist) | $98,100 | +7.0% | Associate's | | 6 | [Diagnostic Medical Sonographer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/diagnostic-medical-sonographer) | $96,590 | +13.0% | Associate's | | 7 | [Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/magnetic-resonance-imaging-technologist) | $95,480 | +7.1% | Associate's | | 8 | [Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-engineering-and-operations-technologist-and-technician) | $82,890 | +8.1% | Associate's | | 9 | [Respiratory Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/respiratory-therapist) | $82,280 | +12.1% | Associate's | | 10 | [Radiologic Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/radiologic-technologist-and-technician) | $80,110 | +4.3% | Associate's | | 11 | [Funeral Home Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/funeral-home-manager) | $78,790 | +4.1% | Associate's | | 12 | [Non-Destructive Testing Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/non-destructive-testing-specialist) | $78,350 | +1.5% | Associate's | | 13 | [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) | $78,190 | +0.6% | Associate's | | 14 | [Electrical and Electronics Drafter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-drafter) | $76,870 | -5.6% | Associate's | | 15 | [Computer Network Support Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-support-specialist) | $76,220 | +1.8% | Associate's | | 16 | [Mechanical Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineering-technologist-and-technician) | $74,510 | 0.0% | Associate's | | 17 | [Cardiovascular Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cardiovascular-technologist-and-technician) | $74,310 | +3.0% | Associate's | | 18 | [Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electro-mechanical-and-mechatronics-technologist-and-technician) | $73,900 | +1.1% | Associate's | | 19 | [Occupational Therapy Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-therapy-assistant) | $72,300 | +19.2% | Associate's | | 20 | [Mechanical Drafter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-drafter) | $71,550 | -6.5% | Associate's | | 21 | [Physical Therapist Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist-assistant) | $68,380 | +22.0% | Associate's | | 22 | [Health Information Technologist and Medical Registrar](https://nuecareer.com/careers/health-information-technologist-and-medical-registrar) | $68,020 | +14.7% | Associate's | | 23 | [Calibration Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/calibration-technologist-and-technician) | $67,820 | +4.7% | Associate's | | 24 | [Architectural and Civil Drafter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/architectural-and-civil-drafter) | $66,150 | +4.1% | Associate's | | 25 | [Industrial Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-engineering-technologist-and-technician) | $66,120 | +1.7% | Associate's | | 26 | [Civil Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/civil-engineering-technologist-and-technician) | $64,950 | +2.1% | Associate's | | 27 | [Hydrologic Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hydrologic-technician) | $64,790 | -2.1% | Associate's | | 28 | [Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/radio-cellular-and-tower-equipment-installer-and-repairer) | $63,520 | +8.6% | Associate's | | 29 | [Paralegal](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paralegal) | $62,890 | +0.2% | Associate's | | 30 | [Quality Control Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/quality-control-analyst) | $62,280 | +3.5% | Associate's | Full record for any row, including wage percentiles and state-level pay: https://nuecareer.com/careers/{slug} or https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/{slug}. --- This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/collections/highest-paying-jobs-with-an-associate-degree