These Are the Highest-Paying Internships & Entry Level Jobs This Year

Most internships and first jobs in the "real world" are anything but glamorous or lucrative...

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Shutterstock

Most internships and first jobs in the "real world" are anything but glamorous or lucrative. For most of us, they come with menial tasks, long hours, and a paycheck that requires subsisting on instant ramen. However, certain gigs early in your career can be a major boon for not only a nascent resume, but also your bank account, according to a new ranking from Glassdoor of the highest paying internships and entry level jobs in 2019.

For folks out there looking to kickstart their careers with a good gig that also comes a great paycheck, a team of economic research analysts at job-search site Glassdoor crunched a trove of salary data to determine which companies are offering the best-paid internships in 2019, as well as the types of entry level jobs have the highest salaries right now. It's a particularly enlightening bit of data for recent grads, as well as anyone out there hoping to make a professional pivot into something that pays a bit (or a lot) better. 

This year, Facebook tops the list of companies with the highest paid internships, shelling out a cool $8,000 a month to each of theirs. Amazon, which came in second place, pays theirs $7,725 monthly, while number-three Salesforce interns get $7,667. Theoretically, if an intern at any of these top three spots were to stick around for a year, they'd be earning a salary of over $90,000.

As for the best-paying entry level jobs, Glassdoor's research determined that Data Scientists top the list, with a median base salary of $95,000. Software Engineers are close behind, with a base salary of $90,000, while Product Managers, which have a base salary of $89,000, come in at number three.

Here's the full ranking for both lists, including their median monthly or annual salaries.

25 Highest Paying US Internships in 2019

25. Boeing ($4,167 per month)
24. Dell ($4,333 per month)
23. Genentech ($4,500 per month)
22. KPMG ($4,500 per month)
21. PwC ($4,500 per month)
20. Cisco Systems ($4,667 per month)
19. Deloitte ($4,667 per month)
18. Tesla ($4,667 per month)
17. EY ($4,825 per month)
16. SAP ($4,833 per month)
15. Intel Corporation ($5,000 per month)
14. Visa, Inc. ($5,167 per month)
13. Viasat ($5,333 per month)
12. Goldman Sachs ($5,367 per month)
11. J.P. Morgan ($5,667 per month) 
10. Bank of America ($5,833 per month)
9. Apple ($6,667 per month) 
8. Capital One ($7,000 per month)
7. Bloomberg L.P. ($7,000 per month)
6. Uber ($7,167 per month)
5. Microsoft ($7,250 per month)
4. Google ($7,500 per month)
3. Salesforce ($7,667 per month)
2. Amazon ($7,725 per month)
1. Facebook ($8,000 per month)

25 Highest Paying Entry Level Jobs 2019

25. Business Analyst ($63,000)
24. Project Engineer ($63,000)
23. Field Engineer ($63,750)
22. Physical Therapist ($63,918)
21. Quality Engineer ($64,750)
20. Programmer Analyst ($65,000)
19. Test Engineer ($65,000)
18. Applications Developer ($65,000)
17. Design Engineer ($65,000)
16. Mechanical Engineer ($65,000)
15. Electrical Engineer ($66,000
14. Actuarial Analyst ($66,250)
13. Product Engineer ($66,750)
12. Front End Developer ($67,500
11. Process Engineer ($68,258)
10. Software Developer ($68,600)
9. Systems Engineer ($70,000)
8. Java Developer ($72,000)
7. Implementation Consultant ($72,000)
6. UX Designer ($73,000)
5. Product Designer ($85,000)
4. Investment Banking Analyst ($85,000)
3. Product Manager ($89,000)
2. Software Engineer ($90,000)
1. Data Scientist ($95,000)

As you'll notice, it clearly pays to pursue a career in tech right now, considering roughly 75% of the jobs and internships listed here are either in a tech or tech-adjacent field, or at tech companies. 

Then again, if money is less of a priority than having a freaking blast, you have a few other options, too.


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