Australia’s top paying jobs that will earn you more than $150,000 a year

New data has revealed professions that earn the most amount of money. This is what you need to aim for to crack the $200,000 mark.

If you have ambitions of earning more than $200,000 a year then there are six professions you should really set your sights on.

New data from the Australian Tax Office has revealed the top 10 occupations by taxable income.

Surgeons are the top earning profession, with an average income of $394,303, followed by anaesthetists on $386,065, and internal medicine specialists on $304,752.

It’s a small group, with just 4150 Australian surgeons submitting tax returns in 2018/19.

Further down the list but still earning more than $200,000 are financial dealers with an average taxable income of $275,984, psychiatrists on $235,558 and other medical practitioners on $222,933.

Those earning more than $150,000 include judicial or other legal professionals on $188,798, mining engineers on $184,507, chief executives or managing directors on $164,896 and engineering managers on $159,940.

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Among these top earning professions, CEOs and managing directors were by far the biggest group, with 190,386 reporting this as their profession.

As the statistics show, it’s difficult to reach these income levels, with just 510,004 out of 11.5 million Australians reporting a taxable income of $180,001 or more.

In contrast, Seek’s Employment Report shows the highest paying jobs that are actually in demand.

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Surgeons are the highest paid profession in Australia according to ATO data. Picture: News Local/Monique Harmer

Information & Communication Technology (ICT) workers don’t rate a mention on the ATO’s top 10 but they do dominate roles advertised on jobs website Seek.

Data on the average annual packaged salaries of full-time roles listed on Seek revealed ICT architects were the highest paid jobs advertised between May 2020 and April 2021.

ICT architects analyse and design IT solutions for businesses and they had an average advertised salary of $147,735. Their wages were also up 4 per cent from the same period the year before.

This was followed by managers in the mining, resources and energy industry on $139,322, and ICT managers on $137,984.

However, the jobs varied between states, although most states had ICT architects as their top job or one of the top three.

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For example, in NSW, the top job was for ICT architects followed by ICT managers and then strategy and planning roles in the accounting industry.

But in South Australia, the top job was for engineering managers, followed by mining managers and then ICT managers.

In Western Australia, the top job was for mangers in the mining industry, followed by ICT architects and then engineering and maintenance workers in the mining industry.

The data highlights how few Australians earn really high levels of income.

ATO statistics show the median income in Australia was $52,732 in 2018/19 and the average income was $63,085, although this figure includes all taxpayers whether they work full-time or part-time.

Almost half of all taxpayers – 6.1 million people making up 41.7 per cent of taxpayers – earn between $37,001 and $90,000, and they contribute 30.9 per cent of the tax take.

Just 3.5 per cent of Australian taxpayers earn more than $180,000, although they are responsible for contributing 31.5 per cent of the country’s tax take.

Australia’s top earners are in line for a tax cut in 2024/25, when the 37 per cent tax bracket will be discarded and everyone earning between $45,000 to $200,000 will pay 30 per cent in tax.

This means Australians earning $180,000 will no longer have to pay the top 45 per cent rate of tax, as the threshold will be lifted to $200,000.

It’s been estimated that once the Stage 3 tax cuts kick in, those earning $200,000 will be better off by $9050 a year.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg defended the tax cuts during in interview on Insiders after the delivery of his budget in May.

“What you’re doing is you’re rewarding effort, you’re encouraging aspiration, you’re returning more people’s hard-earned money back to them,” he said.

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