The 15 best-paying jobs for women in 2018 

In the push towards gender equality, women in the workplace face challenges that often feel out of their control — out-dated corporate policies, sexist colleagues and managers with subconscious hiring preferences, to name a few. But one of the few factors firmly in the hands of women is which career path to pursue.

By choosing one of the highest-paying fields, women can ensure that they're putting themselves in the best position to earn as much as possible.

CNBC Make It analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which calculated median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in order to rank the 15 best-paying jobs for women. Only jobs with 50,000 workers or more were considered for the list (sorry, funeral service managers.)

While compensation can vary widely according to role, employer and industry as well as according to demographics such as age, race and ethnicity, these jobs represent a snapshot of the highest-paying opportunities for women.

Number of women: 255,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,315
Estimated annual earnings for women: $68,380

Number of women: 61,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,343
Estimated annual earnings for women: $69,836

Number of women: 89,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,363
Estimated annual earnings for women: $70,876

Number of women: 108,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,369
Estimated annual earnings for women: $71,188

Number of women: 122,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,409
Estimated annual earnings for women: $73,268

Number of women: 73,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,436
Estimated annual earnings for women: $74,672

Number of women: 71,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,437
Estimated annual earnings for women: $74,724

Number of women: 265,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,543
Estimated annual earnings for women: $80,236

Number of women: 165,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,629
Estimated annual earnings for women: $84,708

Number of women: 66,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,640
Estimated annual earnings for women: $85,280

Number of women: 337,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,753
Estimated annual earnings for women: $91,156

Number of women: 352,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,759
Estimated annual earnings for women: $91,468

Number of women: 129,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,832
Estimated annual earnings for women: $95,264

Number of women: 147,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,834
Estimated annual earnings for women: $95,368

Number of women: 313,000
Median weekly earnings for women: $1,920
Estimated annual earnings for women: $99,840

Chief executive topped CNBC Make It's list as the highest-paying job for women. According to BLS data, there were roughly 313,000 women working as chief executives in the United States in 2017. The median weekly earnings for women with this title is $1,920, which comes out to roughly $99,840 a year, indicating that very few women today are able to break that six-figure threshold.

When you compare these figures to the amounts that C-suite men are making, the gender pay gap is noticeable. The BLS reports that there were 2,415,000 men with this title in 2017 and their estimated median annual earnings were roughly $125,580.

The next highest-paying job for women is Pharmacist, a profession that actually has more women than men. There were roughly 147,000 women and 107,000 men with this job title last year. Despite the fact that the profession is dominated by women, men still earn more. The median weekly earnings for women is $1,834, while men bring in approximately $2,228 a week.

Several other jobs in the healthcare industry reported high earnings for women including nurse practitioner, surgeon and physician assistant.

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