The 25 Most In-Demand High-Paying Jobs Right Now
August 18, 2020Millions of jobs have been impacted due to COVID-19 in 2020. In a recent Indeed survey¹ of over 10,000 U.S. job seekers, half of all respondents were unemployed—of those, nearly one third (27%) were looking to switch fields. Unemployed respondents who were looking to switch fields cited COVID-19 as a motivation more than employed respondents. This could mean that some people may be switching jobs out of necessity rather than desire. In other words, you may be in a position where you must switch fields due to a lack of available opportunities in your chosen field.
The most in-demand high-paying jobs on Indeed
If you’re looking for a new job or interested in switching fields, it may be helpful to know which jobs are most in demand now. Below is a list of the 25 U.S. job titles posted most by employers on Indeed, from July 10 to August 10, 2020, paying $50,000 or more on average. The jobs are ranked by the number of job postings per 1 million search results on Indeed.
National average salary: $68,020
Jobs per 1M: 15,663
Common duties: A registered nurse is a health care professional who assists doctors and other medical professionals with their patient care duties.
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree and state nursing license
Read more: Learn About Being a Registered Nurse (RN)
2. Truck Driver
National average salary: $60,911
Jobs per 1M: 14,997
Common duties: A truck driver’s job is to transport goods with a heavy truck or a tractor-trailer.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED preferred
Read more: Learn About Being a Truck Driver
National average salary: $51,643
Jobs per 1M: 9,914
Common duties: A shift manager supervises the operation of the business while working alongside the employees during a particular shift.
Requirements: Some experience plus high school diploma or GED preferred
Read more: Learn About Being a Shift Manager
National average salary: $50,858
Jobs per 1M: 8,653
Common duties: A delivery driver’s job is to transport items from one place to another.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED preferred
National average salary: $184,436
Jobs per 1M: 6,782
Common duties: An owner-operator driver owns at least one cargo truck and manages their own truck-driving business.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED preferred
National average salary: $61,886
Jobs per 1M: 5,803
Common duties: A sales representative uses customer service and communication skills to build client relationships and sell goods or services.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED—Bachelor’s degree preferred
Read more: Learn About Being a Sales Representative
National average salary: $49,807
Jobs per 1M: 5,728
Common duties: A restaurant manager oversees the day-to-day operations of the facility.
Requirements: Restaurant experience and high school diploma or GED
Read more: Learn About Being a Restaurant Manager
National average salary: $58,423
Jobs per 1M: 3,926
Common duties: Dental assistants are healthcare professionals who assist dentists in completing all dental-related tasks, including examining, cleaning and repairing teeth.
Requirements: High school diploma and postsecondary program and/or on-the-job training
Read more: Learn About Being a Dental Assistant
National average salary: $61,173
Jobs per 1M: 3,689
Common duties: Direct support professionals assist individuals with different intellectual and developmental abilities.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED—Bachelor’s degree preferred
National average salary: $49,071
Jobs per 1M: 3,447
Common duties: Assistant General Managers support General Managers in day-to-day tasks maintaining a business including finances and operations.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED—Bachelor’s degree preferred
11. General Manager
National average salary: $57,927
Jobs per 1M: 3,199
Common duties: A general manager is responsible for a company’s finances and daily operations.
Requirements: Industry experience and high school diploma or GED—Bachelor’s degree preferred
Read more: Learn About Being a General Manager
12. Insurance Agent
National average salary: $58,159
Jobs per 1M: 3,092
Common duties: Insurance agents provide customers with various types of insurance policies and help them choose policies that best meet their needs.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED—Bachelor’s degree and sales experience preferred
Read more: Learn About Being an Insurance Agent
National average salary: $87,158
Jobs per 1M: 2,835
Common duties: Medical/Surgical nurses treat patients who are sick, require surgery or are recovering from surgery.
Requirements: Bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) and registered nursing state licensure through the NCLEX-RN certification. Possibly specialized education such as perioperative nurse training.
Read more: How to Become a Surgical Nurse
National average salary: $53,099
Jobs per 1M: 2,909
Common duties: Service technicians offer a variety of technical, mechanical or other customer support services depending on their industry and specialties.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED
National average salary: $54,212
Jobs per 1M: 2,835
Common duties: Management Trainees work closely with and learn under a manager to assume the role of a manager in the future.
Requirements: Dependent on industry—high school diploma or GED preferred
National average salary: $99,161
Jobs per 1M: 2,561
Common duties: ICU nurses provide emergency and trauma-based medical care to patients in the intensive care unit or emergency room.
Requirements: Bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) and registered nursing state licensure through the NCLEX-RN certification
National average salary: $80,543
Jobs per 1M: 2,470
Common duties: Real estate agents assist clients with the sale, purchase and rental of residential, commercial and industrial property.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED plus valid state real estate license
Read more: Learn About Being a Real Estate Agent
National average salary: $63,960
Jobs per 1M: 2,346
Common duties: A maintenance technician keeps a building or facility safe, tidy and in working order.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED preferred
Read more: Learn About Being a Maintenance Technician
National average salary: $62,646
Jobs per 1M: 2,284
Common duties: Licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) give sick or injured patients basic care under a doctor or registered nurse’s supervision.
Requirements: Nursing program completion and valid state licensure
Read more: Learn About Being an LVN
National average salary: $93,487
Jobs per 1M: 2,264
Common duties: A physical therapist, or PT, helps an injured or ill person improve their mobility and manage their pain.
Requirements: Doctorate of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.)
Read more: Learn About Being a Physical Therapist
21. Manager
National average salary: $58,832
Jobs per 1M: 2,258
Common duties: Managers plan daily schedules, interview and hire new talent, motivate and encourage existing employees, create and maintain budgets and coordinate with and report to senior-level management.
Requirements: Dependent on industry—high school diploma or GED preferred, Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred
Read more: Learn About Being a Manager
National average salary: $65,271
Jobs per 1M: 2,207
Common duties: An outside sales representative meets and sells to customers in the field.
Requirements: High school diploma or GED preferred—Bachelor’s degree preferred
Read more: Learn About Being an Outside Sales Representative
23. Engineer
National average salary: $69,750
Jobs per 1M: 2,080
Common duties: Depending on their specialty, engineers use the principles of science, mathematics, technology and physical sciences to solve problems.
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering
National average salary: $104,907
Jobs per 1M: 1,989
Common duties: Software engineers develop systems and software for businesses.
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering
Read more: Learn About Being a Software Engineer
25. Dental Hygienist
National average salary: $78,005
Jobs per 1M: 1,965
Common duties: Dental hygienists examine and clean patients’ teeth.
Requirements: Completion of a post-secondary program approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation
Read more: Learn About Being a Dental Hygienist
For all available jobs, visit Indeed.com and search for opportunities based on your criteria. Using the advanced search or search filters, you can refine your results by location, salary, job type, company and more. For more on getting the best job search results, visit our guide on Using Indeed.com Job Search.
¹ Indeed survey, n=10,604
