Jobs with the Highest Salaries in 2011

According to CNN's Money Magazine, the 2011 list of jobs in America with the highest salaries include several from the medical profession.  In fact, you have to drop all the way down to number eight on the list to find a career that has nothing to do with health sciences.  

You might not guess number one.  With an average pay of $290,000 per year, anesthesiologists took the top spot in 2010.  Other medical practitioners that break the $200,000 mark, ranked in order, are general surgeons, emergency room physicians, and obstetricians/gynecologists.

At number five, there's a chance you leave the hospital, only to find yourself with another health professional.  Psychiatrists boast an average salary of 185k annually. Since many people confuse psychiatry with psychology, it should be noted that psychiatrists are medical doctors, which is a big reason why they are on this list. 

A medical profession with no confusion around it is a primary care physician.  Your typical primary care physician ranks sixth on the list. 

Even nurses are getting in on the act.  Anesthesiology seems to be a juicy career path because nurse anesthetists earn an average salary of $156,000 per year and take the seventh spot on the list. 

At number eight, we finally find a non-medical job in a Product Management Director.  According to Money Magazine, "Every new widget and gizmo that you see on a website was birthed by a product manager."  Also on the list, a director of software engineering takes in, on average, a yearly salary of $144,000.  That income ranks it ninth. 

Trailing closely behind, a sales director completes the top ten.  Though the title of the position is somewhat vague, the typical sales director creates financial goals and brings in new business for their companies.  On average a sales director earns up to $142,000 annually.