These high paying remote jobs don‘t only allow you flexibility in your time but also an excellent amount of salary.
More than half of the remote jobs listed here (Top 20 High Paying Remote Jobs) are tech-focused professions. They tend to require a great technical skillset, expertise, and quite some prior experience.
They are unlikely fresh-entry-friendly remote jobs. In fact, they are hard careers to start, mostly. You will struggle to get a job of this kind if you are new or aren’t prepared yet.
But who in the world is perfect when they start something new? I hope these statistics would be just taken as your future reference if you currently have a shortcoming in qualifications. In fact, the future depends on how you try to shape it up.
If your future career destination is similar to the ones we listed out here, this article can motivate you to work hard on your career development. Your efforts to improve your skill set, track record, and experience can start right now.
Let’s start without further ado!
What Remote Jobs Are High Paying in 2022?
This list was made based on PayScale data. Top 20 High Paying Jobs are listed in the order from the highest to lowest median salary amount within the top 20 high paying remote work positions (Updated on May 2022)
For a fair comparison, we gauged the median salaries using these conditional criteria below :
- 5 years of work experience
- Bachelor’s degree holder
- New York-based company (Company/employer location)
- Full-time employment (5-9 Mon – Fri)
1. Data Scientist – Median Salary: $115,000
In general, Data Scientist is someone who extracts the meaning and insight from source data by using scientific methods, algorithms, and the system.
This job, known for a high level of salary also allows plenty of flexibility for employees in determining whether they work traditional 9-5 at the office or remote work (work from home)
Becoming a Data Scientist requires a very strong educational background and solid technical skills. 88% of Data Scientists hold a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Social Science, Physical Science, or Statistics, plus knowledge of computer languages, coding, and database platforms.
The salary range for this profession based in the US job market is $73k – $165k for Senior Data Scientists with 5 years of prior experience. This position is currently at the top of the ranking according to PayScale’s data.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Data Scientist
Data scientists are the remote positions that earn the most lucrative salaries. A data scientist at entry-level starts at $86,000 per year and reaches a $136,000 average salary in 20+ years of work experience.
Typical Job Requirements – Data Scientist
1. Education:
The minimal education to become a data scientist is a bachelor of data science, computer science, or computer application. Mostly, a master’s degree is required for easier entry.
2. Skill Set:
- Programming skills
- Machine learning and big data
- Data visualization and processing
- Risk analysis
- Statistical analysis and math
- Software engineering skills
- Data mining, wrangling, and munging
- Researching skills
- Cloud computing
- Data warehousing and structures
2. DevOps Engineer – Median Salary: $114,000
A DevOps Engineer job takes the second spot among the top highest paying remote jobs.
DevOps Engineers work in collaboration with a developer team and other relevant IT staff, bridging the gap between each business unit into a harmonious flow so that the whole workflow within the organization goes smoothly.
The main roles of a DevOps Engineer include Code Release Management, Quality Assurance (QA), Software Development & Test, Security Engineering, and Achieving Automation & Orchestration of Tools in its various types of DevOps job sectors.
Average Salary By Experience Level – DevOps Engineer
Dev Ops engineering is a job listed as the top #2 high paying remote position. The starting salary is $75,000 and it stably uprises reaching $132,000 in 20 years which is nearly double.
Typical Job Requirements – DevOps Engineer
1. Education:
The majority in DevOps are bachelor’s degree holders while about 20% are Master’s degree possessors.
2. Skill Set:
- Coding and scripting (Java, PHP, Ruby, Python, Node. js, etc)
- Application monitoring software (New Relic, etc)
- Analytics tools (Mixpanel, Google Analytics, etc)
- Configuration management software (SaltStack, Puppet, etc)
- Workflow management software (WorkFlowy, Zapier, etc)
- Logging tools (Fluentd, Splunk, etc)
- Service orchestration tools (Kubernetes, Cloud Foundry, etc)
- Continuous integration tools (Jenkins)
3. Software Developer – Median Salary: $114,000
As the name suggests, a software developer is a position concerned with the creation/maintenance of computer software by programming and writing code.
A software developer AKA Software Engineer or Programmer is pretty well known for the most time-flexible job, meaning it’s great for freelancing or working on a remote basis.
Decent software developer positions may require a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. The most in-demand programming languages for software development are JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Python, Java, SQL, and C++ according to Berkeley Boot Camps.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Software Developer
An average software developer would start the first-year salary around $78,000 and it will reach the maximum average of $117,000 in the upcoming 20 years.
Typical Job Requirements – Software Developer
1. Education:
In general, a bachelor’s degree in software engineering, computer science, or a related field is enough to start a career as a fresh entry. But some senior roles require a Master’s degree.
2. Skill Set:
- Programming languages (Javascript, Python, C++, etc)
- Software engineering tools (Git, GitHub, etc)
- Database skills
- Data structuring and algorithms
- QA process
- Debugging knowledge
- Operating systems
4. User Experience (UX) Researcher – Median Salary: $110,000
A User Experience Researcher, short for UX Researcher/Designer is a job to conduct systematic investigations to figure out the needs of users, in order to create a product or service that is relevant and meaningful to whom use it.
This position often involves tasks in various aspects, including visual design, branding, usability, and functionality which are done in the pursuit of enhancing the entire quality of user experience to the next level.
UX Researcher/Designer job is considered high paying, also remote work friendly. There’s a great number of companies in the world aggressively seeking to hire UX designers to work from home.
Average Salary By Experience Level – UX Researcher
The average salary begins at $71,000 and rises to $131,000 after 20 years of experience. Notably, it has a rapid salary increase between 4 years to 9 years timeframe.
Typical Job Requirements – UX Researcher
1. Education:
A Bachelor’s degree in technology or behavioral and social science might be beneficial when applying for the position. It doesn’t have to be in UX design or a related field, though those are also good choices.
2. Skill Set:
- A good understanding of analytics and the design process
- Research skills
- Information architecture
- Visual communication
- Wireframing
- User-friendly design principles
- Other soft skills such as communication skills, etc
5. Accounting Manager – Median Salary: $89,000
This managerial role in the financial sector is another high paying remote job, of which many remote companies are actively seeking specialists for their financial productivity.
The main area of an Accounting Manager role is generally inclusive of overseeing the daily operation of the accounting team, monitoring and analyzing data, producing financial reports, and being in charge of all the general management jobs over the company’s financial/accounting sector.
Accounting managers are often highly educated and possess many finance-related certificates. (CMA, CFA, CPA, etc.) To be considered a qualified candidate for this job, a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Management is necessary in general.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Accounting Manager
According to the data (PayScale), accounting managers don’t have a significant salary increase. And the average salary even starts falling at some point of the 10 – 19 years cycle.
Typical Job Requirements – Accounting Manager
1. Education:
To be an accounting manager, a bachelor of accounting is essential, plus 5 years of work experience in accounting. Accounting certificates are a great plus to possess.
2. Skill Set:
- CPA (Certified Public Accountant) certificate
- GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) knowledge
- Financial analysis, planning, management
- Leadership and other managerial skills
6. Business Development Manager – Median Salary: $84,000
This position is the core part of leading a business to success.
A Business Development Manager is generally tasked with overall business management, supervision of business marketing/sales strategy implementation, and business partnership/relationship maintenance. It’s the brain and the command center of a business to navigate a company to achieve both short and long-term business goals.
Fulfilling the duties of this important senior role often requires a related education, solid prior experience, and strong managerial skills, such as a bachelor’s degree preferably in business management, 3-5 years of sales or marketing experience, and being in possession of good communication skills, interpersonal skills, business knowledge, negotiation skills, tact and diplomacy, organizational skills and so on.
Business Development Manager position is a highly demanded job. Recently, many companies have their business development specialists work on a remote basis in line with the popularity of workforce transition to remote work.
The salary level of this job tends to be high as it is a decision-making role. The high pay scale for this role is an indication of how important the business development manager is for a business.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Business Development Manager
Business development managers have great salary growth over time. It starts at $65,000 and reaches $95,000 as the maximum of the 20-year span.
Typical Job Requirements – Business Development Manager
1. Education:
A degree isn’t a mandatory requirement to be a business development manager. However, the preferable option for many employers is a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or Marketing.
2. Skill Set:
- Project management skills
- Strategic thinking skills
- Negotiation and persuasion skills
- Communication skills
- Great knowledge of the products/services handled
7. Product Designer – Median Salary: $95,000
It’s a job of creation and your ideas can turn into a form of a product by your imagination.
Product Design is a role for you to create a new product to be commercially sold in a marketplace. It’s a very broad coefficient, effective generation and development through a whole product designing process in order to bring a new product to life.
To become a product designer, the minimum qualification is usually a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Engineering, Architecture, or any other related major.
In general, a relevant education you completed and prior experience in similar roles would be the significant attributions in determining your salary level. However, the median salary level of this job is officially reported as $95,000 which is one of the high paying remote jobs where you might be able to expect a high compensation.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Product Designer
The average salary for product designers is represented by an inverted-U line graph. The average salary for a new hire starts at $74,000 and rises to the 10 and 19 years level. Then when it reaches the 20 years experience point, it drops precipitously to return to the 1-4 years level.
Typical Job Requirements – Product Designer
1. Education:
Although there are ways to enter the field without a degree, it is likely easier to find work with a degree in Product Design or Industrial Design.
2. Skill Set:
- UX/UI Design.
- Visual Design.
- User Research/Testing
- Understanding of User Experience development
8. Project Manager – Median Salary: $83,000
A Project Manager is a person in overall charge of specific projects within a company.
As the head of a project, a Project Manager is supposed to carry out important managerial duties in an entire project management process. The roles include planning, initiating, executing, monitoring, and advancing a project to be completed successfully.
A bachelor’s degree in Business Management is the general education requirement to start a career as a Project Manager. On the other hand, it also widely varies depending on what type or category of Product Manager you want to be. For example, a product manager in Food & Beverage or a product manager in IT. The options are wide and you would need a personalized plan that fits your pursuit.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Project Manager
Commonly, product managers are well paid and the role has great potential for salary growth. New product managers are paid $59,000 per year on average and are expected to receive a yearly salary of around $93,000 on average when they have 20+ years of experience.
Typical Job Requirements – Project Manager
1. Education:
A bachelor’s degree or higher is required for most project management positions. Common major to be a project manager includes Business Management or Business Science.
2. Skill Set:
- Project management skills
- Project organizational skills
- Coordination skills
- Business analysis skills
- Subject matter expertise
- Risk management
- Communication Skills
- Time Management skills
9. International Sales Manager – Median Salary: $83,000
If you’re an International Sales Manager, you would be in charge of supervising the sales process for overseas marketplaces. The roles of a sales manager include establishing sales goals, making sales decisions, partner relationships, overseeing a sales department, etc. And you will do all these as the head of an international sales team.
Since this is a senior position, you can expect a high level of salary. According to PayScale, the median salary for international sales managers is $83,000 in 2022.
You might need a bachelor’s in Business Management, Marketing, Engineering, or any other degree that relates to the products you hope to handle. However, a lot of sales positions don’t require a degree if you have previous experience or a successful track record.
Average Salary By Experience Level – International Sales Manager
It’s doubling from the first-year average $50,000 to 20+ years of experience $105,000. An international sales manager is a high paying job with a diagonal line of salary growth over time.
Typical Job Requirements – International Sales Manager
1. Education:
A high school degree is a minimum requirement. But having a degree in International Business, Import-Export, or other related major to the product lines is beneficial.
2. Skill Set:
- Knowledge of Import Export procedure
- Market research skills
- Strategic thinking skills in International business execution
- Coordination skills
- Good command of foreign languages
- Relationship building skills
- Negotiation skills
- Insight on business
10. Web Developer – Median Salary: $78,000
A web developer is an in-demand position. A lot of companies are eagerly looking for experienced web developers to keep up with their everyday needs for web development.
Given the high demand for skilled web developers, salaries for web developers are lucrative. They enjoy a lot of time flexibility and location independence. It certainly has many great perks to working as a web developer.
As to hiring a Web Developer, many employers prefer a web developer who possesses a Bachelor’s degree or associate degree in Computer Science and knows HTML/CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, etc.
It’s reported that Web Developers with 5 years of experience get paid about $78,000 on average, based in the U.S job market and it’s surely one of the high paying remote jobs.
Average Salary By Experience Level – Web Developer
Web developers based in the US have an average salary from $51,000 to $80,000 by experience. Web development is one of the fields that are most remote friendly and also high paying.
Typical Job Requirements – Web Developer
1. Education:
The minimum education to be a web developer is an associate’s degree (Computer Science or Programming) or professional certificate in web development.
2. Skill Set:
- Frontend languages:HTML and CSS
- Backend languages: Javascript, PHP, Python, PHP, Java
- Database languages: SQL or MongoDB, Git
The Rest of High Paying Remote Jobs
In addition, these are the 11th to 20th highest paying remote jobs. We used the statistics from PayScale to estimate the median salaries.
These jobs are not only high paying but also have great career potential to develop. Remember, this is only the median range and as your experience grows, your salary could potentially rise.
- Cyber Security Analyst – $77,374
- Digital Marketing Manager – $69,786
- Technical support engineer – $67,310
- Systems Administrator – $63,908
- Business Analyst – $63,750
- Technical Writer – $61,945
- Account Manager – $57,386
- Accountant – $52,822
- Web Designer – $52,374
- Freelance translator – $50,715
High Paying Remote Jobs For Fresh Entry
Below is the ranking of the top 20 high paying remote jobs for fresh entry. We self-defined fresh entry as 0 to less than 1-year job experience and we compiled the average salary data of less than 1 year by industry. (Source: PayScale)
- Data Scientist – $86,000
- Software Developer – $78,000
- DevOps Engineer – $75,000
- Product Designer – $74,000
- UX Researcher – $71,000
- Cyber Security – Analyst $65,000
- Accounting Manager – $63,000
- Technical support engineer – $60,000
- Project Manager – $59,000
- Business Analyst – $59,000
- Business Development Manager – $55,000
- Systems Administrator – $53,000
- Web Developer – $51,000
- Technical Writer – $51,000
- International Sales Manager – $50,000
- Digital Marketing Manager – $49,000
- Accountant – $48,000
- Account Manager – $46,000
- Web Designer – $45,000
- Freelance Translator – $41,000 / $16.63 per hour
Wrapping Up: Top 20 High Paying Remote Jobs In 2022
It was a very interesting job and we really enjoyed every step of the research!
We didn’t doubt that the IT field would be one of the most lucrative spaces that pay high paying salaries. But it was a bit of a surprise that IT jobs make up almost half the list among the top 20 high paying remote jobs.
In line with that, we could surely feel the high demand for IT specialists in the world nowadays — we are living in an era of high-tech where every tech startup in the world thrives, needing a lot of manpower in the IT sector. In line with that, the high demands lead to high compensation given the fact that the world is now suffering from the shortcoming of IT specialists.
Besides the IT field, we could find dozens of well paying industries. (although we couldn’t include all of them in the list) If you are underway or already in some finance sector, design, or sales field, there might be a high chance that you are compensated fairly and more than what other industries pay.
Now, the remote job industry is expanding significantly all over the place. Surely, now is the time to brush up on your skills and experience and be well-prepared for your wise career development that will pay back for all your efforts invested.
SWH Editorial Team
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