The Jobs with the Biggest Raises

The jobs with the biggest raises are not necessarily the jobs with the highest salaries. Base pay is a dollar amount, and raises are typically expressed as a percentage of it. According to popular jobs and recruiting site Glassdoor, median annual base pay in the U.S. grew 3.2% year over year in January 2017 to $51,360. With inflation at 2.5% over the same period, a 3.2% raise would more than keep up with increases in the cost of living. That’s good news for the American worker.

However, not all jobs saw a 3.2% raise. If you are in the market for a new position, knowing which occupations tend to have the biggest annual pay increases might be worthwhile information to have. For example, between January 2016 and January 2017 the median raise for physical therapists was 9.7%. That’s the biggest raise (by percentage) of all jobs tracked by Glassdoor. The median annual base pay for physical therapists as of January 2017 was $77,198. By contrast, physicians had a much higher median base pay of $237,868, but they received a year-over-year raise of only 3.7%, slightly above the U.S. average.

Jobs With the Biggest Raises

Looking only at jobs with the biggest raises without regard to median annual base pay, the top five, according to Glassdoor, were:

• Physical Therapists – Got a median pay raise of 9.7%, leading to a median base pay of $77,198
• Store Managers – Experienced an 8.9% median raise, ending in a median base pay of $50,015
• Restaurant Cooks – Began 2017 with an 8.6% median raise and median pay of $30,029
• Attorneys – Received a median raise of 8.1%, with a median salary of $102,291
• Recruiters – Had a median raise of 7.8% and began the year at $52,899

All of these jobs exceeded the U.S. median year-over-year pay raise of 3.2% by more than 200%.

Raises for Highest-Paying Jobs

On the other hand, of the top five jobs by median base pay at the beginning of 2017, only attorneys were also on the top five raises list. Rounding out Glassdoor’s top five highest median base pay list were:

• Product Managers – Received a 4.4% median pay raise, ending in a median salary of $91,449
• Physicians – Had a 3.7% median raise and a median base salary of $237,868
• Tax Managers – Saw a 2.6% median raise, leading to a median base salary of $92,588
• Data Scientists – Got a meager 1.7% median raise but had a median base salary of $95,908

Biggest Raises Above Median Annual Pay

Of the 60 jobs tracked by Glassdoor, 24 have a median base pay higher than the January 2017 U.S. median salary of $51,360 and year-over-year raises above the 3.2% total U.S. wage growth shown in the Glassdoor report. This combination of good pay and above average wage growth might offer a “best of both worlds” scenario for job seekers when evaluating a potential new job.

Jobs in this category are professor, field engineer, financial analyst, accountant, registered nurse, physical therapist, physician, recruiter, truck driver, attorney, manufacturing engineer, technical editor (media), operations manager, consultant, project manager, business analyst, product manager, customer service manager, business development manager, retail buyer, software engineer, programmer analyst, java developer and web designer.

Top Industries for Pay Raises

Median pay increases reported by the government during the same period as Glassdoor were 2.9%. That’s because the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses different criteria than Glassdoor and reports by industry instead of by job. According to the BLS, the top industries for raises are information; leisure and hospitality; wholesale trade; and manufacturing. Professions seeing significant pay raises include technical writers, waiters, undertakers and construction workers.

The Bottom Line

When seeking a new job, knowing annual trends in pay increases is an important, but often overlooked, factor. Annual raises are not only measure of job satisfaction, but they should be taken into consideration when evaluating a new job. When considering a career or career change, a balanced approach that looks at starting base pay and annual raises can provide the best combination of security and opportunity for growth.