Looking for a pay raise? These industries have the highest pay changes

Money is on everyone’s minds as the holidays approach. The average American has less cash in their pockets these days thanks to rising costs, exacerbated by the fact that U.S. consumer prices increased in November by the largest amount in seven months.

For a long time, a six-figure salary was synonymous with the ideal of the American Dream. Now, the vast majority of Americans would struggle to live comfortably off $100,000 a year, according to a new report by Bankrate.

It found that $186,000 per year is what is needed to live comfortably in today’s world, despite the average full-time worker typically earning half that at $79,000 per year.

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In the last year the consumer price index (CPI) has climbed to 2.7%, rising 0.3% last month alone. Grocery store items have risen half a percent, with the cost of eggs a particular concern, rising 8.2% thanks to an avian flu outbreak.

Beef also costs more right now, as do nonalcoholic beverages. Rent is still rising, albeit more slowly, motor vehicle insurance increased 0.1%, airline fares rose another 0.4% after a large 3.2% increase in October, and healthcare services are more expensive too.

The result of this is that many U.S. employees are thinking about ways to earn more money in 2025. If that’s you, then you need to start planning now.

There are a few ways to go about getting paid more, the most effective of which is to look for a new job. That’s because job switchers make more money than those who stay put. Last year, career planning site Zippa found that the average salary increase when changing jobs is 14.8%.

Industries paying more

According to a recent workforce report, the median change for job stayers was considerably lower at 4.8%. The report also highlighted the industries where pay gains are at their highest.

These include information (up 4.5%), trade, transportation and utilities (up 4.6%), finance (up 5%), and professional and business services (up 4.7%).

Median annual pay levels are highest on the east coast too, with median pay in Washington D.C. at $100,400. Massachusetts comes next at $75,800, with New Hampshire ($65,300), Maryland ($65,100), Virginia ($64,700), and New York state ($64,100) rounding out the top states for salaries.

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Stay put and negotiate

If you like where you work and want to stay put (but on more money), you’re looking at a different scenario. Unless you work for a company that offers automatic annual increments which keep pace with, or are more than inflation, you’ll likely need to build a case for why you deserve to be paid more.

There are a number of things to consider ahead of having a conversation about money with your manager. You’ll probably have read all the advice on how to ask for a raise, and you may know that you should get a sense of an industry benchmark for your role.

You’ll probably also be aware that you should put together a list of your strongest achievements and times when you exceeded expectations. Assess too whether your role has changed from how it was defined when you were hired. Are you doing more tasks, or have you taken on responsibilities you didn’t previously have? These are both good levers to pull when you’re looking for more money.

Whether you’re looking for a fully remote role or a job with more flexibility around work location, you can browse thousands of openings on The Hill Job Board