These 25 Internships Pay More Than The Average US Salary

googleplex in mountainview
Googleplex in Mountain View, CA | Google
Googleplex in Mountain View, CA | Google

Scoring an internship that actually pays you a decent wage would be considered a feat for many people. Hell, scoring an internship that actually pays is nothing to sniff at. However, some companies offer internships program that are so competitive and demanding that they actually pay participants more than the salary of an average full-time US worker. 

According to a new study by the jobs review site Glassdoor, 25 companies offer their interns monthly pay packages that -- when considered over a 12-month period -- exceed the median annual US salary of $51,350. It's worth noting, though, that these interns aren't being paid so handsomely just to enter data and collate documents, but are often tasked with tackling huge high-level projects and come plucked from a pool of highly skilled and qualified candidates.

Here's how the most lucrative programs rank, according to their median pay per month: 

25. Bank of America -- $4,570/per month
24. AIG -- $4,616/per month
23. Deutsche Bank -- $4,640/per month
22. Accenture -- $4,960/per month
21. Chevron -- $5,000/per month
20. Capital One -- $5,000/per month
19. Qualcomm -- $5,040/per month
18. Mathworks -- $5,120/per month
17. Adobe -- $5,120/per month
16. Blackrock -- $5,400/per month
15. Workday -- $5,440/per month
14. Juniper Networks -- $5,440/per month
13. Intuit -- $5,440/per month
12. NVIDIA -- $5,770/per month
11. Google -- $6,000/per month
10. VMware -- $6,080/per month
9. Yahoo -- $6,080/per month
8. Yelp -- $6,400/per month
7. Bloomberg, L.P. -- $6,400/per month
6. Apple -- $6,400/per month
5. Amazon -- $6,400/per month
4. Salesforce -- $6,450/per month
3. ExxonMobile -- $6,507/per month
2. Microsoft -- $7,100/per month
1. Facebook -- $8,000/per month

Unsurprisingly, many of the names on this list are also among the most profitable tech and finance companies on the planet, so high-paying internship programs are not only financially tenable, but a way to recruit the best possible new talent in highly competitive industries. Their benefits don't necessarily end with generous compensation, either. Some of the interns Glassdoor surveyed counted additional perks like special event access, free food & drink, museum access, travel, and even free housing as part of the programs. And if other internship data collected last year is still accurate, this list should also probably include a couple more companies like Pinterest and Snapchat, which are each rumored to pay their interns upwards of $9,000 a month.

Considering what you're paid to intern at these companies, imagine how much fatter the checks get if you're asked to stick around as a legit employee.

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Joe McGauley is a senior writer for Thrillist. Follow him @jwmcgauley.