What Is a Good Salary in United States? (2026)
A good salary in United States in 2026 starts around $162,334/yr — about 25% above the country median of $129,867. Anything above $227,267/yr places you in the top earners across the 30+ jobs tracked.
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Salary benchmarks in United States
Median
$129,867
Mid-level avg.
Good
$162,334
+25% above median
Excellent
$227,267
+75% above median
Entry-level
$88,567
Junior avg.
Annual USD · averaged across 30+ tracked roles.
Junior vs mid vs senior
Junior
$88,567
0–2 yrs
Mid-level
$129,867
3–5 yrs
Senior
$191,333
6+ yrs
Top-paying jobs in United States
Mid-level annual USD.
| # | Role | Median (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doctor (General Practitioner) | $260,000 |
| 2 | Investment Banker | $250,000 |
| 3 | Dentist | $215,000 |
| 4 | Lawyer | $185,000 |
| 5 | Machine Learning Engineer | $180,000 |
| 6 | Cloud Architect | $172,000 |
| 7 | Data Scientist | $158,000 |
| 8 | Product Manager | $158,000 |
| 9 | Software Engineer | $145,000 |
| 10 | Petroleum Engineer | $145,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions
A good salary in United States is around $162,334/yr (about 25% above the country median of $129,867). Salaries above $227,267 are considered excellent.
Related pages
Data sources: aggregated public salary surveys, official labor statistics and crowdsourced reports. See our methodology. Canonical URL: https://salarybyrole.com/questions/what-is-a-good-salary-in-the-us