The 9 best-paid jobs in the UK

Air traffic controllers earn an average of £81,100 (AFP/Getty)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its annual set of statistics on the best-paid jobs in the UK.

While the average person in the UK earned £34,400 ($42,056) this year, there are some professions that can yield an average of three times that — and it is not just jobs in finance.

The ONS compile the raw data by surveying a 1% sample of all the workers who carry out each occupation. It is then used to create the ONS "Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings" report.

Take a look at the roles which made the top of the list:

9. IT & Telecoms directors

Average pay before tax: £78,100

The average salaries of IT and telecoms directors have increased dramatically compared to last year — by 9.1%. That is because the skills of highly-trained IT professionals are in increasingly high demand.

8. Doctors

Average pay before tax: £78,400

Junior doctors have been locked in dispute with health secretary Jeremy Hunt all year over pay disputes. However, once they pass the "junior" stage of their career, they earn a wage that is double the national average.

7. Air traffic controllers

Average pay before tax: £81,100

Air traffic controllers perform highly complex roles, with hundreds of lives at stake each time they make a decision — and their salary reflects that. Just 0.5% of those that take the air traffic control exam pass each year.

6. In-house lawyers

Average pay before tax: £80,200

The appeal of in-house law work is not only due to their high salaries, the role is generally seen as being more gentle than the intense schedule of a City lawyer, according to law blog Legal Cheek.

5. Financial managers

Average pay before tax: £84,700

The average salary for financial managers — which include investment bankers — has increased by 2.4% on last year.

4. Pilots

Average pay before tax: £86,900

Despite a fall of 0.6% in the past year, pilots are still some of the best-paid in the UK. The Guardian reports that the small pay drop is due to an increase in budget airlines, which offer lower salaries.

3. Marketing directors

Average pay before tax: £87,900

A marketing director is responsible for managing the marketing of a product or an institution. Their salaries fell slightly this year, by 2.5%.

2. Chief executives

Average pay before tax: £123,600

A chief executive is the highest-ranking employee in a company or institution. While the average salary for the role is high, at £123,600, chief executives are often paid far more than that. Earlier this year Martin Sorrell, chief executive of PR giant WPP, was forced to defend his £70 million annual pay package.

1. Brokers

Average pay before tax: £133,900

Brokers can be stockbrokers, FX traders, or traders on the stock exchange. Salaries within the sector in London increased rapidly from the 1980s after the "Big Bang," when Margaret Thatcher oversaw the deregulation of financial markets — a move which many people believe eventually caused the 2008 financial crash.

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