Guide · 8 minutes
The best industries for sales jobs: what 16 industries pay, and which take beginners
Written by Yuma Heymans, Founder & CEO of SalesJobs.Now.
Yuma runs SalesJobs.Now out of San Francisco. Recruiting is familiar ground: Yuma also co-founded HeroHunt.ai, a platform that uses AI to find and reach candidates.
The industry a salesperson sells in moves pay more than almost anything else. On this board, US sales postings at AI companies state a median of $206,800 a year, and at food and beverage companies $69,450, about a third as much. The industries that pay the most also hire the fewest beginners: fewer than one seat in ten at AI, cloud and cybersecurity companies is an entry seat, against one in five at logistics, insurance, consumer goods and food companies. This guide ranks 16 industries by what their sales postings pay, how many are open, how often they state pay, how many are remote and how many take beginners.
On 2 November 2026 this board had 19,000 open sales roles open to US candidates, read from the hiring systems of 1,480 employers; 70% stated pay, with a median of $146,688 a year across every seat. An industry here is what the employer sells, read from the company itself, never from the job title, so a C.H. Robinson account manager counts in logistics and a Stryker associate sales representative in medical devices. Every pay figure is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale (base or on-target earnings, as the posting states it), one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the US postings in each industry.
Contents
- The ranking
- The highest-paying industries
- The industries that take the most beginners
- The most remote industries
- Where a posted figure says less
- Choosing an industry
- How these figures were counted
- Quick answers
1. The ranking
| Industry (what the employer sells) | US open roles | Median posted pay | Middle half | Stating pay | Remote | Entry seats | Most openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI and data | 1,621 | $206,800 | $156,000 to $282,625 | 82% | 30% | 7% | Esri, Databricks, NVIDIA |
| Cloud and developer tools | 1,282 | $196,106 | $143,421 to $263,000 | 78% | 30% | 9% | Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Datadog, Cloudflare |
| Cybersecurity | 1,410 | $175,000 | $139,325 to $242,400 | 73% | 43% | 9% | Palo Alto Networks, Verkada, Zscaler |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotech | 918 | $170,954 | $125,000 to $190,000 | 85% | 24% | 7% | Amgen, Viatris, IQVIA |
| Business software (SaaS) | 2,118 | $162,500 | $117,750 to $215,000 | 82% | 27% | 11% | Salesforce, Braze, Navan |
| Fintech | 1,187 | $157,825 | $105,750 to $215,750 | 65% | 24% | 8% | Fiserv, Stripe, Block |
| Industry software | 2,241 | $150,000 | $100,003 to $192,500 | 80% | 33% | 12% | Toast, CoStar Group, Samsara |
| Media and advertising | 798 | $128,250 | $70,000 to $174,500 | 54% | 6% | 7% | iHeartMedia, Nexstar Media Group, Townsquare Media |
| Lab and diagnostics | 332 | $125,000 | $107,588 to $161,950 | 82% | 31% | 2% | Thermo Fisher Scientific, Danaher, Heartflow |
| Medical devices | 1,289 | $105,000 | $90,000 to $142,250 | 46% | 10% | 20% | Stryker, Abbott, Johnson & Johnson |
| Industrial and distribution | 2,652 | $89,800 | $58,916 to $118,500 | 56% | 10% | 16% | United Rentals, Johnson Controls, Graybar |
| Construction and building | 1,126 | $89,800 | $62,088 to $118,500 | 63% | 7% | 18% | United Rentals, Johnson Controls, Renuity |
| Logistics and freight | 388 | $85,000 | $54,290 to $126,275 | 55% | 16% | 22% | RXO, Ryder, Expeditors |
| Insurance | 448 | $77,500 | $52,500 to $132,500 | 73% | 23% | 21% | Allstate, Fetch Pet Insurance, Travelers |
| Consumer goods (CPG) | 939 | $75,000 | $58,402 to $113,100 | 54% | 5% | 20% | Sysco, Red Bull, 3 Day Blinds |
| Food and beverage | 708 | $69,450 | $57,200 to $113,100 | 51% | 4% | 20% | Sysco, Red Bull, Breakthru Beverage Group |
Some industries hold others: construction and most of logistics are part of industrial and distribution, logistics software is also industry software, and food and beverage is mostly consumer goods. The sales jobs by industry page lists every market with today's figures.
2. The highest-paying industries
Software and the companies around it pay the most, and AI leads: the AI median is $206,800 and cloud's $196,106, against $146,688 for every US sales posting on the board. Their account executives post medians of $215,000 (AI) and $222,725 (cloud), and most of their postings state pay (82% and 78%), so the figures stand on many postings. Pharmaceutical and biotech sales is the exception outside software, at $170,954, with the highest share stating pay (85%).
The guides Tech sales salary and Highest-paying sales jobs break the top of the market down by seat and company.
3. The industries that take the most beginners
| Industry | Entry seats among US openings | What the entry seats are |
|---|---|---|
| Logistics and freight | 22% | Associate carrier sales reps, rental sales trainees, account manager programs |
| Insurance | 21% | Pet and travel insurance sales associates, entry-level sales executives, internships |
| Medical devices | 20% | Associate sales representatives covering cases for a senior rep |
| Consumer goods and food | 20% | Sales trainees, route and territory reps |
| Construction and building | 18% | Sales development programs, technical sales trainees, counter and inside seats |
| Industrial and distribution | 16% | The same, at distributors and equipment makers |
| AI, cloud and cybersecurity | 7% to 9% | Sales development reps (SDRs and BDRs) |
An entry seat here is a sales development seat or one whose title says entry level, trainee, associate, junior, intern or graduate. The industries with the most of them pay less to start, but they are where sellers without a record get hired; the guides How to get into sales and Sales jobs without a degree cover the first seats.
4. The most remote industries
Cybersecurity is the most remote industry on the board: 43% of its US seats are posted as remote. Industry software (33%), lab and diagnostics (31%), AI and cloud (30% each) follow. The least remote are food and beverage (4%), consumer goods (5%), media (6%) and construction (7%), where the seller visits stores, restaurants, job sites or local advertisers. The remote sales jobs page lists every remote seat.
5. Where a posted figure says less
An industry's median means most where most of its postings state pay. Medical devices (46%), food and beverage (51%), media (54%), consumer goods (54%) and logistics (55%) state it least, and in several of them a posting's figure is often a base salary, with commission on a territory or a book of accounts on top. In those industries, ask what sellers in the same seat earned last year in total; the guide What is OTE explains base, variable pay and quota.
6. Choosing an industry
- For the highest pay, sell software, AI or security, and expect to start as a sales development rep or to bring a record from another industry.
- For the fastest start, look at logistics, insurance, consumer goods, construction and distribution, which hire the most beginners and train them on the product.
- For a mix, look at medical devices, where associate seats lead to territories, and pharmaceuticals, which pay well and state pay most often, though most of its seats ask for a degree.
- Sell what you know. A nurse selling to hospitals, a contractor selling building products or a former trucker selling freight brings the buyer's language with them, which helps from the first meeting.
7. How these figures were counted
- The roles: every open sales role on this board on 2 November 2026 open to US candidates, read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 19,000 roles.
- The industry: what the employer sells, from its record on this board (its field, and for logistics, construction, food and beverage and media the trade it names), never the job title.
- The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the industry's US postings. "Up to" figures are left out.
- Entry seats: sales development seats and seats whose title names entry level, trainee, associate (not associate director), junior, intern or graduate.
These figures describe one day; each industry's page always shows its current roles and pay.
8. Quick answers
What industry pays the most for sales? On this board, AI companies: US sales postings state a median of $206,800 a year, followed by cloud ($196,106) and cybersecurity ($175,000), on 2 November 2026.
What is the best industry to start a sales career? The industries with the most entry seats are logistics (22% of US openings), insurance (21%), medical devices, consumer goods and food (20% each); they pay less to start but train beginners.
Which sales industry has the most remote jobs? Cybersecurity: 43% of its US sales seats are posted as remote.
Do medical device reps earn more than the figures show? Often: fewer than half of device postings state pay, and many state only the base salary, with commission on the territory on top.
Where can I compare sales jobs by industry? The sales jobs by industry page lists every market with its open roles and posted pay.