Best-Paying Health Care Jobs for Women

While wage increases have been slow since before the recession, things have been more difficult for women as the gender wage gap widened in February, back to 2005 levels, according to Forbes. Women are currently earning just 81 cents for every dollar men earn.

This varies across the nation and across industries. For instance, in Washington, D.C., women eared 90 cents to men’s $1, but in Wyoming they earn just 67 percent of a man’s earnings, according to data from the American Association of University Women.

according to a new analysis of earnings, h

ealth care jobs are among the ones that pay women the most.

Forbes analyzed the median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in 2012 and found that jobs in health care, business and computer science were more likely to pay women the most. In fact, nine of the top 20 best-paying jobs for women were health care related.

However, while women in the best job earn 100% as much as men do, that’s not typical among the rest of the jobs on this list.

(Note: Yearly earnings are approximate and based on median weekly earnings as published by the Buruea of Labor Services.)

9. Psychologists

Yearly earnings: $60,000

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: N/A

8. Physical scientists

Yearly earnings: $61,000

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: 77%

7. Physical therapists

Yearly earnings: $62,000

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: 87%

6. Medical and health services managers

Yearly earnings: $62,000

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: 77%

5. Occupational therapist

Yearly earnings: $62,500

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: N/A

4. Physician assistants

Yearly earnings: $71,000

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: N/A

3. Physicians and surgeons

Yearly earnings: $74,000

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: 68%

2. Nurse practitioners

Yearly earnings: $79,500

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: N/A

1. Pharmacist

Yearly earnings: $97,500

Earnings as percentage of men’s earnings: 100%

Right now, pharmacy is a good field to be in regardless of gender. From 1996 to 2010 pharmacists’ salaries rose 34.4% while physician salaries barely grew, according to a study published in JAMA.

Another reason why being a pharmacist is good regardless of gender is because they earn just as much as their male counterparts — meaning it really has reached perfect gender equality — and women comprise 52% of the workforce.

See the other jobs on the list here.

Read more:

The Best and Worst States for Gender Wage Gap — Business Insider