What Your Childhood Dream Job Pays

All-star athlete, veterinarian and astronaut: what do all of these jobs have in common? They’re common career paths that you likely dreamed of becoming as a kid.

What if you hadn’t strayed from this career path? Would you be better off, financially speaking? Now is your chance to find out!

Using careers ranked by users within a LinkedIn survey and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates survey, Forbes compiled a list of what 10 common childhood dream jobs actually pay on average.

Discover what the role you dreamed of becoming as a child actually pays:

Top 5 Common Childhood Dream Jobs for Women:

1. Teacher

Average pay for education, training and library occupations: $51,220

2. Veterinarian

Average pay: $93,250

3. Writer, Journalist or Novelist

Average pay for writers and authors: $68,420
Average pay for media and communications workers: $59,180

4. Doctor, Nurse or EMT

Average pay for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations: $73,540

5. Singer

Average pay for singers and musicians: $31.94/hour
Note: According to Forbes, the BLS only provides hourly wage data for this occupation.

Top 5 Common Childhood Dream Jobs for Men:

1. Professional or Olympic Athlete

Average Pay: $75,760

2. Airplane or Helicopter Pilot

Average pay for airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers: $128,760
Average pay for commercial pilots: $80,140

3. Scientist

Average pay for life, physical, and social science occupations: $68,360

4. Lawyer

Average pay: $130,880

5. Astronaut

Average pay: between $67,000 – $123,000 per year to start (with an increase in salary based on time on the job and supervisory evaluations).
Note: According to Forbes, this data comes from NASA; the BLS did not provide salary data for astronauts.

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