While many workers struggle to move beyond living paycheck to paycheck , others are drowning in cash.
In fact, it could be argued that many of these latter workers are ridiculously overpaid.
Some jobs bring wild levels of compensation — we’re looking at you, CEOs — that often seem hard to justify. Others bring little to no value to people’s lives, regardless of how much money the job makes.
Here are a few jobs where workers earn a lot more than their efforts warrant.
Make Money: 8 things to do if you're barely scraping by financially 1. Hospital CEO
If you thought doctors were paid too much, their salaries are nothing compared to hospital administrators.
These top-level employees can make salaries in the multiple millions of dollars annually — even if they work at nonprofit hospitals.
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2. Professional athlete
We all love watching a good game of professional football or basketball, but these athletes are notoriously overpaid for the amount of work they do and how important it is to society.
For perspective, the minimum salary for a rookie in the NFL is $750,000 — about 10 times the median household income for the average American.
3. Star actor
Famous actors are widely known for making more money than they likely deserve. Hollywood stars can make millions of dollars per film, and some do multiple films per year.
Some contracts also allow actors to make more money on the back end if the movie does well.
These salaries are in stark contrast to the industry median pay for all actors as a group, which is only $20.50 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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Many federal politicians make good money. For example, members of the House and Senate make well above six figures for jobs that only require them to work less than half of the days in a year.
That doesn’t include any money they get from consulting, speaking, book deals, or other pursuits.
5. Business CEO
Running a large corporation is no small feat. But CEO pay at S&P; 500 companies now tops an average of $16.7 million, according to the AFL-CIO.
Are the efforts of CEOs that much more valuable than those of their employees, who make a fraction of that each year? The bigwigs may be important, but they’re not that important.
6. Hedge fund manager
Hedge fund managers rake in huge amounts of cash. Yet, research has found that a large percentage of hedge funds underperform the Standard and Poor’s 500 index — often by a large margin.
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Many of us dreamed of playing video games for a living when we were kids. Crazily enough, there are people who actually do this in real life.
The e-sports gaming industry has exploded, and prize pools now reach millions of dollars. However, it’s questionable whether these folks are making a real contribution to society in exchange for their efforts.
8. Plastic surgeon
Heart and orthopedic surgeons have an easier time justifying their high salaries than plastic surgeons do. A bypass or hip replacement is a lot more critical to life than a nose job.
Despite this fact, Salary.com says plastic surgeons make a median of more than $446,000 per year.
9. College football coach
In 43 of 50 U.S. states, college football coaches are the highest-paid state employees, according to a report from The Sports Daily. These coaches often make millions of dollars per year.
Considering that the BLS says the average post-secondary teacher makes around $84,380, it’s safe to say that many college coaches are wildly overpaid.
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The salary range for celebrity photographers is pretty wide: Some barely scrape by while others make six figures or more.
However, any profession that involves harassing or stalking people probably gets paid too much. Federal and state laws have been enacted that provide some protection from the intrusion of paparazzi photographers.
11. Social media influencer
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how much these niche celebrities make, but reports suggest that some can make thousands of dollars per post.
That’s not including ad revenue, which can be substantial for YouTubers with millions of subscribers.
12. Orthodontist
Unlike dentists, much of what orthodontists do is cosmetic rather than medically necessary. For straightening out your teeth, these professionals make a median annual salary of $243,620 per year, according to the BLS.
By contrast, dental assistants make an average of $46,540 per year.
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While you might struggle from day to day just to get ahead financially , others are rolling in cash thanks to what they earn.
In the end, whether or not a job pays too much is in the eye of the beholder. But many folks will agree that at least some of the jobs on this list are ridiculously overpaid.
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