by howmuch
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in the U.S. is $61,937. Some companies are well-known for having sky-high salaries that are more than twice the median household income. Our new visualization ranks the highest-paying U.S. companies by median salary based on the latest research from Glassdoor.
- Most of the highest-paying American companies are in the technology sector. Consulting and finance companies like BNP Paribas and McKinsey & Company are also represented.
- Most of the top 25 companies are headquartered in California, especially around Silicon Valley. Only four of the companies are headquartered in other states or countries.
- While the tech sector tends to pay the high median salaries at the company level, the top five highest paying jobs in America are in the healthcare field, not tech.
- Data does not take into account executive-level (C-Suite) salaries.
The data source for this visualization is Glassdoor’s 25 Highest Paying Companies in America report. The report relies on crowdsourced data about compensation (including base salary, commissions, tips, bonuses, etc.), as reported by U.S.-based employees on Glassdoor from July 2018 to June 2019. All companies included in the final report received at least 75 salary reports by U.S-based employees during this time period. Our visualization charts each of the top 25 companies by median salary, with the highest salaries on the left and the lowest salaries on the right. To illustrate each company, we also included the company logo.
Top 10 Highest-Paying American Companies
1. Palo Alto Networks: $170,929
2. NVIDIA: $170,068
3. Twitter: $162,852
4. Gilead Sciences: $162,210
5. Google: $161,254
6. VMware: $158,063
7. LinkedIn: $157,402
8. Facebook: $152,962
9. Salesforce: $150,379
10. Microsoft: $148,068
Interestingly, some of the most profitable companies in the world, such as Apple and J.P. Morgan, are not listed among the highest-paying companies in America. Instead, firms that specialize in social media networking, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and software are the most-represented on the Glassdoor list. In fact, some estimate that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2021, which could drive median salaries in this field up even further. But at the same time, workers at some tech companies like Google and Facebook face an uncertain future due to increased public scrutiny and calls for regulation. As the economy, federal laws, and job market demands continue to evolve, the list of highest-paying companies could also look very different in the future.
What companies do you think will be on this list next year, or even a few years from now? How do you think employment and salaries for tech firms will change within the next year? Would you recommend this as a career path for young workers, and why? Please let us know in the comments.