Highest paying jobs that need only an associate degree
Two-year degrees, ranked by median pay. Several of these out-earn occupations that require four years. Wages are Bureau of Labor Statistics medians for May 2025; entry requirements come from the federal Employment Projections classification.
| Occupation | Median | Top 10% | Training | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Air Traffic Controllers | $148,080 | $215,610 | Long-term on-the-job training | 22,510 |
| 2 Radiation Therapists | $105,310 | $156,710 | — | 17,070 |
| 3 Nuclear Medicine Technologists | $101,370 | $134,500 | — | 17,080 |
| 4 Dental Hygienists | $98,100 | $126,050 | — | 222,740 |
| 5 Diagnostic Medical Sonographers | $96,590 | $129,370 | — | 90,160 |
| 6 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists | $95,480 | $127,670 | — | 43,390 |
| 7 Respiratory Therapists | $82,280 | $118,050 | — | 139,790 |
| 8 Radiologic Technologists and Technicians | $80,110 | $118,660 | — | 230,490 |
| 9 Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other | $78,350 | $118,330 | — | 59,930 |
| 10 Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians | $78,190 | $115,700 | — | 95,130 |
| 11 Electrical and Electronics Drafters | $76,870 | $120,290 | — | 17,920 |
| 12 Computer Network Support Specialists | $76,220 | $127,780 | Moderate-term on-the-job training | 146,190 |
| 13 Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians | $74,510 | $106,050 | — | 36,190 |
| 14 Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians | $74,310 | $121,350 | — | 62,960 |
| 15 Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians | $73,900 | $109,890 | — | 15,520 |
| 16 Occupational Therapy Assistants | $72,300 | $89,780 | — | 51,290 |
| 17 Legal Support Workers, All Other | $72,110 | $179,960 | — | 46,760 |
| 18 Mechanical Drafters | $71,550 | $106,580 | — | 39,960 |
| 19 Physical Therapist Assistants | $68,380 | $89,510 | — | 112,430 |
| 20 Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars | $68,020 | $117,420 | — | 38,100 |
| 21 Calibration Technologists and Technicians | $67,820 | $106,550 | — | 16,540 |
| 22 Architectural and Civil Drafters | $66,150 | $99,710 | — | 103,700 |
| 23 Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians | $66,120 | $99,150 | — | 75,570 |
| 24 Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians | $64,950 | $98,980 | — | 68,520 |
| 25 Paralegals and Legal Assistants | $62,890 | $101,500 | — | 392,880 |
Reading this ranking
Air Traffic Controllers tops the list at $148,080. The midpoint of this ranking is $74,510, so the leader pays 99% more than a typical entry on it — a gap wide enough that the top row is better read as an outlier than as a realistic target.
Pay inside a single occupation varies more than people expect. For air traffic controllers, the bottom tenth earn $78,420 and the top tenth $215,610 — 2.7× apart. A ranking like this shows the middle; the band is where your own outcome sits.
37 occupations match this filter; the 25 shown are those with at least 15,000 people employed nationally. Smaller occupations are excluded because a national median drawn from a few thousand workers is not a reliable guide.
Other entry routes
Where these jobs pay most
Every figure above is a national median. The same occupation can pay two or three times more in one metropolitan area than another — the salary guides break each one down by metro.
About the data
Two federal datasets are joined here. Wages come from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey of employers. Entry requirements — education, training and prior experience — come from the Employment Projections programme, which assigns each occupation the level typically needed to enter it. “Typically” is doing real work in that sentence: individual employers set their own bars, and plenty hire above or below the classification.