In this sped-up, squeezed dry economy where families are finding they have to work harder to make the same amount of money, are there still jobs with high hourly wages that require fewer hours per week than the national average?



We have identified nine jobs that pay well above the national median income, while requiring less working hours than average, according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most of them involve great acquired skill, expensive training, or intense personal instruction.



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Psychologists, for example, must obtain a specialist degree or doctorate in their field, which requires three to six years of schooling. However, because they usually set their own schedules after that, they work nearly 600 hours a year less than, for example, the average real estate broker. Psychologists, however, make more than the average broker, and have the equivalent of several additional months of leisure time. Psychologists, airline pilots, and a few other occupations, are that rare jobs that is paid higher than average while requiring less than typical time commitment.



Doctors, by comparison, can require more than a decade in school years and residency before they begin to earn their maximum salary. And even though doctors are paid better than most, the salary comes with one of the heaviest schedules. Surgeons, for instance, work an average of 2,835 hours per year -- the equivalent of five more months over the 2,006 hours the average American works.





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