Gap Widening as Top Workers Reap the Raises

From The New York Times:

Since the beginning of 2014, median wages for all holders of a bachelor’s degree or more have risen 2.7 percent, compared with about 2 percent for all workers. Among the top 10 percent of earners holding college degrees, however, wages are up more than 6 percent...

A new study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that pay near the top of the scale in fields like art, entertainment and media was six times what it was near the bottom in 2014, compared with four times in 2007. The best-paid health care professionals now earn nearly four times what workers in the lowest tier make, compared with less than three times in 2007.

Click to expand...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/business/economy/salary-gap-widens-as-top-workers-in-specialized-fields-reap-rewards.html

FWIW, I ran the BLS data for 2014 (the latest available), and below is a list of professions in which the median annual income is $100,000 or more (most of which require specialized skills and/or considerable experience):

[TABLE="width: 390"]
[TR]
[TD]Aerospace Engineers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Air Traffic Controllers and Airfield Operations Specialists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Anesthesiologists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Architectural and Engineering Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Astronomers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Chief Executives[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Compensation and Benefits Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Computer and Information Research Scientists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Computer Hardware Engineers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dentists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Family and General Practitioners[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Financial Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Human Resources Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Internists, General[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Law Teachers, Postsecondary[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lawyers and Judicial Law Clerks[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Managers, All Other[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marketing and Sales Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mathematicians[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Miscellaneous Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Natural Sciences Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nuclear Engineers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nurse Anesthetists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Obstetricians and Gynecologists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Optometrists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Orthodontists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pediatricians, General[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Petroleum Engineers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pharmacists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Physicians and Surgeons[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Physicians and Surgeons, All Other[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Physicists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Podiatrists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Political Scientists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Prosthodontists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Psychiatrists[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Public Relations and Fundraising Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Purchasing Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Purchasing Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sales Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Software Developers, Systems Software[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Surgeons[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Training and Development Managers[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Using the same BLS data, the fields with the lowest median wages (<$20,000 per year) were as follows in 2014:

Agricultural Workers
Amusement and Recreation Attendants
Bartenders
Cashiers
Childcare Workers
Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food
Cooks, Fast Food
Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop
Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
Dishwashers
Entertainment Attendants and Related Workers
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
Fast Food and Counter Workers
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
Gaming Services Workers
Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants
Manicurists and Pedicurists
Miscellaneous Agricultural Workers
Miscellaneous Entertainment Attendants and Related Workers
Models
Parking Lot Attendants
Shampooers
Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers
Waiters and Waitresses

About what I'd expect. As labor markets tighten, people with skills most in demand or graduates from elite schools will be able to command wages higher than others.

Jobs Report
[h=2] Don’t Forget The Workers The Recovery Is Leaving Behind [/h] By Ben Casselman