Salary

Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer

Salaries are always a hot topic in the office -- most often, as an area of complaint. In today's economy, most are simply grateful to earn a salary of any size, but you still hear things like, "I don't earn enough to survive or pay the bills" or "So-and-so is making X amount, I should be, too." Or -- my personal favorite -- "I deserve more."

Well, we all deserve more, but the reality is that right now, not many of us will get it. And, in looking at the national average salary, some of you may be surprised how you compare.

Meg Donohue, CareerBuilder.com writer

As we each search for our personal pot of gold, many of us wonder whether the rainbow leading us to a six-figure paycheck has to be so long. We want financially rewarding jobs, but not everyone is eager to commit the time and money necessary to complete a medical or law degree. The good news is that, even though statistics have shown that more education translates to higher earnings, there are still plenty of six-figure salary jobs for those of us who have decided not to take the seven-years-and-a-stethoscope route.

The following is a list of seven lucrative fields in which the top-earning 25 percent of workers take home more than $100,000 annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That percentage proves there is real potential for sizeable salaries within these fields, even if your résumé doesn't boast a lengthy list of alma maters. Though some of these positions are filled by people with graduate degrees

By Esmé E. Deprez

The federal minimum wage will climb 11%, to $7.25 an hour from $6.55, lifting the incomes of those who earn less than $15,000 a year

Minimum-wage workers will see a bump in their pay come July 24, when the federal minimum rises by 11%, to $7.25 an hour from $6.55. It will put an extra $120 per month in the pockets of the more than 2 million janitors, cafeteria workers, and child-care providers, among others, who rely on incomes of less than $15,000 annually.

Tiffany Miller, special to PayScale.com

The middle school hierarchy is simple. Principal, vice principal, teacher, librarian, teacher's aide, custodian.

And you might imagine that higher pay goes along with more authority. The principal makes more than a vice principal, a teacher more than a librarian and then there's the crusty old custodian. It's obvious, right?

Surprise! Custodians can make more than middle school teachers, even teachers who hold Master's degrees. Not only that, but some custodians are just plain hot. Meet 33-year-old Chip Walker, a (very cute) school custodian in Ridgewood, Queens. Walker brings home $60,000 a year, thanks to 13 years experience and regular overtime. His best friend, a 32-year-old eighth grade teacher with his Master's degree makes $55,000 a year.

By Carol Tice, for Payscale

Not so long ago, having advanced computer skills was considered the ultimate in job security. How times have changed. Now, tech jobs are among the most heavily outsourced. Research firm Computer Economics recently estimated that more than half of all software application development work was contracted out last year, often to workers in other countries, along with 44 percent of application maintenance tasks and 40 percent of Web site and e-commerce work.