You'll Never Believe How Much Internships Pay at These Companies

Though they’re great for networking opportunities, internships are usually pretty awful because they’re usually unpaid.

But, you know, not all internships are unpaid. In fact, some pay remarkably well.

“Interns at the 25 best-paying companies earn an average monthly wage of between $4,604 and $6,704,” Bloomberg reports, citing data from jobs site Glassdoor.com. “For context, the average U.S. household pulls in about $4,400 monthly, based on U.S. Census Bureau data.”

What’s driving these companies to compensate their interns so well?

“In tech and finance, the war for talent continues to be fierce, and it’s not so surprising that the war for talent is fierce at the intern level,” said Scott Dobroski, a spokesman for Glassdoor. “Why not tap the best young minds right out of the gate?”

Indeed, considering the type of cash involved in tech innovations, it’s not surprising to see top firms invest so heavily in snatching up young talent.

Here are the 10 best paying internships, according to Bloomberg and Glassdoor [dollar amounts per month]:

10. Amazon: $5,436

9. ConocoPhillips: $5,607

8. Microsoft: $5,847

7. Adobe (aka "Would You Like Another Update?"): $5,861

6. LinkedIn: $5,866

5. Google: $5,891

4. Facebook: $6,084

3. ExxonMobil: $6,268

2. EBay: $6,500

1. VMware: $6,704

Click here to see the rest of the list.

[Bloomberg Note: “The figures are based on 13,500 intern reviews of 6,600 companies between January 2011 and January 2013. Reviews can be submitted by anyone who works as an intern at the company, from college students to grad school graduates and professionals making a career change. Only companies with 10 or more intern salary reports from that period were included. The average monthly base pay among surveyed interns was $4,200."]

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