TOP 5 Highest and lowest occupations by median income in Nova Scotia
Median income is the middle point of all the wages earned by people in a job when you list them from lowest to highest. It helps both job hunters and employers figure out what salary to expect. Median income gives us an idea of how much money people in different jobs usually make. It shows which jobs pay more or less.
This page shows you the top 5 jobs that pay the most and the top 5 jobs that pay the least in each major occupational group. You can find more detailed information about how much money people make in the Excel file at the bottom of the page.
1 - Business, Finance and Administration
This group covers jobs in finance, business, and office work. Some jobs, like accountants and investment brokers, need specific education. Others, like administrative assistants, might just need experience.
Some insights on median income are:
- Overall, people in this group make a median income of $44,400.
- Middle management jobs in things like administration and finance pay the most, with a median income of $75,000.
- Office support roles, like data entry, pay the least with a median income of $27,400.
- The biggest regional difference in pay is seen in accounting and administrative jobs, with a high of $50,400 in Halifax and a low of $25,400 in the Annapolis Valley.
2 - Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology
This group includes jobs in sciences, engineering, architecture, and information technology.
These jobs need a college or university education in science or technology. If you want to move up from a technical job to a professional one, you might need more education.
Some insights on median income are:
- This group of jobs has the highest median income for all the job categories, at $67,000.
- Specialized middle management jobs pay the most, with a median income of $97,000.
- The lowest-paying jobs are technical roles related to natural and applied sciences, which pay a median of $39,200.
- The biggest regional difference in pay is seen in professional jobs in applied sciences, with the highest median income of $74,500 in the Annapolis Valley and the lowest median income of $55,200 in Cape Breton.
3 - Health
This category includes jobs that provide where people directly care for patients and jobs where they help medical staff with technical tasks.
To advance from jobs like technician roles to professional jobs, you need more education. If you want to become a supervisor, you need experience in the job you are supervising. Jobs that support health care often require short training programs.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for all jobs in this group is $47,200.
- Middle management jobs in health care pay the most, with a median income of $91,000.
- The pay difference between regions is smaller in healthcare compared to other fields.
- People working in natural healing jobs make the least, with a median income of $20,200.
- The biggest difference in pay is for middle management healthcare jobs, ranging from $94,000 in Halifax to $70,000 in the Southern region.
4 - Education, Law, Government, Social and Community Services
This category includes jobs related to law, teaching, counseling, doing research in social sciences, government policy, and running government programs. It also includes roles in religious services and leadership.
These jobs usually require a college or university education. Those in roles like paralegal, social service worker, or a teacher outside of public schools, may need more education to move into higher-level jobs.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for jobs in this group is $52,800, which is the second highest of all the categories.
- Jobs like lawyers have the highest median income, making around $106,000.
- On the other hand, roles like student monitors and crossing guards have the lowest median income, at about $5,880 a year.
- The biggest regional difference in pay is seen in jobs like lawyers, with the highest median income of $110,000 in Halifax and the lowest of $81,000 in the Southern region.
5 - Art, Culture, Recreation, and Sport
This category includes jobs in art and culture, like performing arts, film and video, broadcasting, journalism, writing, creative design, libraries, and museums.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for jobs in this group is $15,600, which is the lowest of all categories.
- Middle management jobs in art, culture, recreation, and sport pay the most with a median income of $44,000.
- Jobs that support art and culture pay the least, with a median income of $4,200.
- The biggest difference in pay is for jobs in sports, ranging from $41,600 in the Annapolis Valley to $6,400 in the Southern region.
6 - Sales and Service
This category includes jobs in retail and wholesale sales and customer service roles in workplaces like hotels, restaurants, travel, tourism, and cleaning.
Many sales and service jobs need you to finish a college or university program or take a job-specific training program. Some jobs also provide on-the-job training. For some specific service jobs, you can do an apprenticeship. To move up to a higher position or become a supervisor, you usually need experience and might need to complete more training.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for jobs in this group is $19,000, which is the second lowest of all categories.
- The regional pay difference is the smallest in this group.
- Jobs in specialized sales pay the most, with a median income of $51,200.
- Personal service jobs pay the least, with a median income of $5,920.
- The biggest difference in pay is for specialized sales jobs, ranging from $6,400 in Halifax to $17,000 in Cape Breton.
7 - Trades and Transportation
This category includes jobs like supervisors and contractors in trades, construction workers, mechanics, people who operate heavy machinery and trades helpers. These jobs are found in many different industries, with a lot of them in construction and transportation.
This category includes most of the trades, including all construction trades. Other jobs in this group often need you to finish a college or vocational program and then get training while you work. Helpers learn on the job. If you have enough experience, you might move up to be a supervisor or start your own contracting business. It is not easy to switch between different jobs in this group because each one usually has specific apprenticeship, training, and licensing requirements.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for jobs in this group is $40,000.
- Transportation officers and controllers have the highest median income at $90,000.
- Transport drivers, operators, and labourers make the least, with a median income of $15,200.
- The biggest regional difference in pay is seen in technical equipment operator trades, ranging from $91,000 in the Southern region to $58,400 in Cape Breton.
8 - Farming, Fishing, Forestry, and Mining
These jobs involve supervising and operating equipment in industries like mining, oil and gas production, forestry, agriculture, and fishing. Most of these jobs are specific to these industries and don’t exist outside of them.
Jobs in this category often need you to finish a college or vocational program. But some of these jobs provide on-the-job training and you learn as you gain experience.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for jobs in this group is $22,000.
- The second largest regional pay difference is seen in jobs in this group.
- Supervisors in natural resources, agriculture, and related production make the most, with a median income of $48,000.
- On the other hand, harvesting, landscaping, and natural resources labourers make the lease, with a median income of $13,100.
- The biggest regional pay difference between regions is seen in jobs related to natural resources and fisheries, ranging from $46,000 in the Southern region to $21,600 in Cape Breton.
9 - Manufacturing and Utilities
This category includes jobs where people supervise, work in production, or do manual labour in manufacturing, processing, and utilities. These jobs often require technical training, learning as
In jobs like process control, you usually need some technical training at a college or university level. Many people start as labourers and then move up to operating machines as they gain experience. To become a supervisor, you need experience in the job you are supervising. Sometimes moving into these jobs might be limited by rules in union agreements or you might need extra training.
Some insights on median income are:
- The median income for jobs in this group is $34,800.
- The biggest difference between regions is seen in this group, with the highest median income of $42,000 in the Annapolis Valley and the lowest median income of $19,800 in Cape Breton.
- Middle management jobs in manufacturing and utilities pay the most, with a median income of $75,000.
- On the other hand, laburers in processing, manufacturing, and utilities make the least, with a median income of $22,000.
- The biggest pay difference between regions is seen in processing and manufacturing machine operators and related production workers, ranging from $46,400 in the Annapolis Valley to $16,200 in Cape Breton.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census – custom data.