Salary, Wages | featured news

A salary is one of the most compelling factors for individuals deciding on a career path, a degree or even where to live — because some parts of the U.S. pay higher wages, on average, for the same position.

You can't judge a job by its salary, and it seems the reverse is also true. You might never guess that some workers are taking home such sizable paychecks, so Forbes came up with a fun list of the most surprising six-figure jobs in the U.S.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates was used to compile the list, and at least 10 percent of workers in each job must have earned more than $100,000 last year to make the cut. The 15 jobs Forbes deemed as surprisingly high-earners are below.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a 5% cut in 200,000 state workers' salaries.

Workers' earnings are stagnating or even declining as employers big and small resort to slashing hours and once-unthinkable wage cuts.