The 25 Highest Paying Jobs in Kentucky (May 24)

Telehealth

Salary range: $184,100-$276,600 per year

Telehealth is a field of health care that involves the practice of telemedicine, in which a nurse, physician, or other clinician provides remote service to a patient using a telephone or digital connection. As a telehealth professional, your duties depend on your area of expertise and the needs of the patient. In all virtual healthcare careers, you must be comfortable working with communication technologies such as video chat and remote diagnostic equipment. The diagnostic, healthcare, and therapeutic responsibilities are often the same in telehealth as they are in a face-to-face clinical setting.

Dedicated Owner Operator

Salary range: $61,595-$248,247 per year

Dedicated Owner-Operators are truckers who are dedicated to one company and drive a consistent route. Other long-haul truckers may not know where they are traveling to from week to week; Dedicated Owner-Operators have a consistent destination. They have set routes that do not change. This is where the name comes from—the owner-operator is dedicated to their routes, and is not available to take other jobs or to change their course. Owner-Operator Truck Drivers own, rent, or lease their truck, rather than driving a truck owned by their employer.

Telehealth Nurse

Salary range: $73,000-$217,100 per year

As a telehealth nurse, you provide healthcare advice and services from a remote location using a telephone, webcam, or other digital communication. Your responsibilities may include providing care for people in a rural community or those without easy access to health services. Telemedicine includes helping patients manage chronic conditions, offering advice for minor injuries or illnesses, or referring patients to a brick-and-mortar clinic if necessary. You may use remote technology to monitor patients vital signs or collect data to guide decisions about their care. You may provide both telenursing services and face-to-face services in a clinic.

Drone Pilot

Salary range: $86,900-$134,600 per year

The primary responsibilities of a drone pilot are to control and maintain an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). You can find drone pilot positions with both the military and other governmental organizations, as well as private companies, such as agricultural operations, film and television production companies, surveyors and mapping specialists, and environmental scientists. As a pilot, you perform a variety of duties, such as flying reconnaissance and taking aerial photography and aerial videography. In the military context, drone pilots operate UAVs which bomb targets from across the world.

Nurse Practitioner

Salary range: $93,800-$130,300 per year

Nurse practitioners are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) with additional responsibilities including prescribing medication, examining patients, diagnosing illnesses, and providing treatment, much as physicians do. Nurse practitioners are educated and trained to provide health care services, such as the diagnosis and treatment of acute illness and chronic conditions.

Power Lineman

Salary range: $59,900-$118,100 per year

As a power lineman, your job is to support the operations of utilities by installing and maintaining electrical lines. As part of your role, you may do construction work to fix or replace lines, use equipment to reach areas in need of repair, and teach an apprentice how to do the job. You also identify defective elements in a system, inspect and test power lines and related equipment, climb poles and transmission towers, and work in severe weather conditions. Following disasters like storms or earthquakes, you may work extended shifts if necessary.

Federal Government

Salary range: $81,600-$115,100 per year

Federal government jobs are employment opportunities with national agencies and organizations. Elected positions are important in government, but non-elected civil servant jobs play a significant role as well. The military is one way to serve the country, but you can find a civilian job within a federal government department or agency. The qualifications and skills you need to be a civil servant vary depending on the position. Your job duties and responsibilities also depend on the civilian job you perform, such as economist, accountant, tax collector, criminal investigator, janitor, or secretary.

Nurse Educator

Salary range: $62,500-$106,800 per year

A nurse educator teaches nursing students or licensed nurses seeking continuing education. Nurse educators are licensed nurses who have a master’s degree or doctorate in nursing, enabling them to teach in college nursing programs. These nurse educators not only explain the mechanics of the job, but they serve as role models for aspiring nurses, offering advice and sharing their knowledge and experience in the field. Teaching hospitals and other clinical settings hire nurse educators to provide training to nursing students and continuing education to staff nurses.

Regional Clinical Director

Salary range: $78,200-$106,400 per year

As a regional clinical director, your duties are to coordinate and implement clinical strategies that support the staff and goals of a regional health network, such as a group of outpatient clinics or substance abuse centers. You work closely with clinic managers, plan ways to improve the delivery of care and services to patients, and provide clear directives for employees. Your responsibilities may also include providing input into new clinical protocols, such as the development or transition to new behavioral assessments or methods to determine care provision.

Social Worker

Salary range: $51,200-$79,500 per year

Social Workers help individuals, children, and families from all backgrounds to overcome personal difficulties and help their clients get the help they need. Assistance may include food and housing subsidies, health care, and job training. Part of their duties involve crisis prevention; many of their clients deal with poverty, abuse, addiction, and unemployment.

Medical Technologist

Salary range: $40,800-$79,000 per year

A medical technologist analyzes biological samples like blood or tissue to assist physicians in diagnosing and treating patients. They run medical tests using laboratory equipment to gather patient data. Medical technologists may perform specialized testing in areas such as immunology and microbiology. Their duties include studying cell or blood samples, collecting results, and consulting with physicians on their findings.

Public Health

Salary range: $52,500-$77,300 per year

Public health encompasses the study of factors that influence people’s health and promote preventative care. Its research focuses on how to keep residents safe and healthy. The public health sector is comprised of many different roles, and includes doctors, nurses, researchers, lab technicians, social workers, administrators. Public relations and marketing professionals also work in public health to educate the public on new health care research and healthy lifestyle choices. The primary goal of all public health employees is to find the best ways to promote information that protects the wellbeing of the community-at-large.

History Research

Salary range: $35,463-$68,128 per year

History research jobs involve the study of historical eras and past events. As a historian, you may work for an educational institute or historical society. In either of these scenarios, you usually have research duties, and you are expected to publish your research periodically. Some public historians work outside of academia in museums or at historic sites. You typically perform research by finding a source and working to interpret that source. The responsibilities of people involved in applied history include finding data about past events and using it to predict outcomes, issues, or events in the present.

Office Rn

Salary range: $52,100-$64,700 per year

Office RNs work in a medical office or clinic setting, treating patients and assisting physicians. As an office registered nurse, you perform patient assessments, record vitals, and update patient records. You work with a doctor to provide education on procedures, answering questions and arranging for follow-ups visits. As an RN in a medical office, you tend to have the most face-to-face time with a patient. Your responsibilities include data entry, providing basic care, and helping patients understand and follow the doctor’s orders.

Wildlife Biologist

Salary range: $39,500-$60,400 per year

Wildlife biology is the study of animals in their natural habitat. A wildlife biologist, also called a zoologist, conducts studies to understand animal populations in their natural habitat. They keep records, organize and present findings, and run experiments. Wildlife biologists may also work for governments or animal advocacy groups, making recommendations for policies and advocating for habitat protections. Wildlife biologists may get to interact with animals to identify their needs, so this is one of the top jobs for animal lovers.

Firefighter

Salary range: $39,500-$59,900 per year

Firefighters respond to emergency fire calls. They monitor phones and radios for emergencies, drive fire trucks and other emergency vehicles, put out fires, and find and rescue victims in burning buildings or other emergency situations. Many Firefighters are also paramedics and may be called to assist on emergency medical calls.

Animal Shelter

Salary range: $39,100-$55,200 per year

Animal shelter jobs include veterinary staff, animal caregivers, and specialists involved in adoption procedures and foster care placement. Your responsibilities as an animal care attendants at a rescue center include providing for the basic needs of rescue animals living there. Veterinarians and vet technicians offer medical care and ensure that the animals are healthy. Your duties as an adoption coordinator or humane coordinator include helping with adoption procedures and preparing adoptees to accept a new pet and understand the behaviors common in their pet’s breed. A dog trainer or animal behavior specialist may work with rescue animals who are not yet ready for adoption.

Deckhand

Salary range: $32,600-$44,700 per year

A Deckhand assists in the operation and maintenance of a marine vessel, such as a ship or a boat. The Deckhand ensures the vessel is clean and ready for travel, and that passengers are safe at all times. Additional duties of this job include transferring rigging, building and breaking tow, and preparing barges for product intake or discharge.

Dump Truck Owner Operator

Salary range: $31,700-$44,300 per year

Dump truck owner-operators are self-employed contractors who own their dump truck instead of working for a trucking company and using their trucks. As a dump truck owner-operator, you use your vehicle to move large amounts of material to and from construction sites. Some companies may choose to primarily utilize dump truck owner-operators instead of drivers employed by trucking companies. They are an essential part of most large construction and demolition projects. Dump truck owner-operators may be responsible for hauling debris, soil, rock, or even hazardous materials. Whether delivering essential building materials or removing debris that would otherwise hinder the project, dump truck owner-operators are a huge part of most large scale projects.

Pediatric Cna

Salary range: $29,500-$40,800 per year

As a pediatric CNA, or certified nursing assistant, your responsibilities are to provide nurses with administrative and technical support, work closely with children, and assist patient care and treatment at the hospital or medical facility at which you work. Pediatric CNA duties include bathing and feeding patients, checking patients’ vital signs, including their temperature and blood pressure, and listening to and observing patients for signs of distress, which you promptly report to a nurse or other senior clinician. In some states, CNAs are allowed to dispense medication, while in other states, only a nurse can do so.

Forestry

Salary range: $30,000-$40,400 per year

If you work in a forestry career, your primary duties depend on your area of specialization. Forestry professionals include foresters, loggers, firefighters, and forest rangers. If you have a degree in forestry, land management, or a related subject, you may work in conservation or forestry management or serve as a policy advisor or project manager for forest preservation and rehabilitation efforts. Arborists, naturalists specializing in the forest habitat, and botanists may also work in forestry. Colleges offer associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in forestry. These degrees give you a wide range of knowledge about different forestry subjects.

Peer Support Specialist

Salary range: $30,400-$39,100 per year

A peer support specialist provides support based on personal experience to patients recovering from abuse, addiction, or mental health disorders. Because they have survived similar life-altering experiences, peer support specialists have a shared perspective that helps them connect with and guide patients in recovery. Peer support specialists work in healthcare facilities, rehabilitation centers, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. The job duties of a peer support specialist include patient support, coordinating patient logistics (such as scheduling appointments and transportation), building community through social activities, and identifying helpful resources for patients.

Babysitting

Salary range: $27,400-$35,600 per year

Babysitting is the temporary childcare in the absence of or as an assistant to their parent or guardian. Many teenagers and adults provide babysitting services for parents who need someone to watch their child for short periods of time. Babysitters perform all the duties necessary to feed, clean, care for, and entertain a child while the parents are away, ensuring that they are safe and well cared for.

Relocation Package

Salary range: $28,700-$33,900 per year

A relocation package is a set of financial incentives and assistance for a new or existing employee who is being transferred from one office to another location. Many different industries offer jobs with relocation packages, which typically covers moving expenses, furniture storage fees, any travel and transportation costs, and temporary housing if necessary. For example, if you work in a technical field such as software engineering or data science, an employer may pay you to move from one city to another to work as part of a different team. Some other industries that offer relocation packages include sales, engineering, construction, oil and gas extraction, and health care.

Mystery Shopper

Salary range: $29,100-$33,000 per year

Companies hire mystery shoppers to pose as a client or customer and provide feedback about their experience. As a mystery shopper, you are given instructions on what to ask or buy in the assigned location. For example, you may need to ask specific questions to the waiter at a restaurant, or buy a particular clothing item and chronicle the buying experience from the moment you walk into the store to when you pay for the item. You may be required to submit photos or video with your report. Mystery shoppers conduct assignments discreetly so that the employees do not know they are monitoring their experience.

25 of the Highest Paying Jobs in Kentucky for 2024

The top jobs in Kentucky can pay up to $276,600 per year

High Paying Kentucky Jobs