--- title: The 15 Highest-Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree description: Not every lucrative job demands years of study, BLS data reveals. For these, a high school diploma (and some training) will do. authors: - name: Kiran Dhillon / FindTheBest url: https://money.com/author/kiran-dhillon-findthebest/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 1 covers: - Career Advice former_staff: true published: '2014-09-11T17:47:18.000Z' modified: '2024-05-07T08:53:13.000Z' section: Career Advice tags: - bachelor's degree - business operations - Careers - College - commercial pilot - communications equipment - criminal investigator - detective - elevator installer - gas plant - Graphiq - high school diploma - inspector - Jobs - nuclear power plant - Petroleum - police supervisor - power distributor dispatcher - power lines - power plant operator - pump system - refinery - street car - subway - supervisor word_count: 421 canonical: https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs-no-college-degree/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A bush plane performs take off in Alaska with Chugach Mountains in the Background.](https://img.money.com/2014/09/140911_car_nohigherdegree3.jpg) *You don't need a college degree to make this your workplace.* Conventional wisdom holds that earning a bachelor’s degree is the best path to a stable job that provides a livable income, but not every high-paying job requires a four-year college education. In fact, 345 out of the 787 occupations listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in their 2012 to 2022 [employment projections report](http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.toc.htm) require only a high school diploma. In 45 of the fields, the median wage is above the national median of $51,058 a year, according to an analysis by the research engine [FindTheBest](http://www.findthebest.com/?utm_medium=editorial&utm_source=time&utm_campaign=kdhillon&utm_content=FindTheBest&utm_term=Highest%20Paying%20Jobs%20With%20A%20High%20School%20Diploma). However, while many jobs don’t demand a bachelor’s degree, a number of the best-paying ones call for additional training. Elevator installers and repairers, for example, earn a median income of $76,650 a year but have to complete an apprenticeship before entering the field full-time. Commercial pilots who handle charters, rescue operations, and aerial photography flights need a license from the Federal Aviation Administration. Nuclear power reactor operators must be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. What's more, many of the best-paid positions are growing more slowly than the average 11% growth rate for all occupations for 2012 to 2022—or even shrinking. Postal workers, for example, earn a median of $53,100 a year, but the number of mail carriers, mail sorters, and clerks is forecast to decline by 28% by 2022. But for a handful of these professions, the outlook is healthy. That includes elevator installers and repairers, who are expected to increase their numbers by nearly 25% by 2022, and transportation inspectors and construction and building inspectors, all fields that are forecast to grow at double-digit rates. Here are 15 professions you can enter with a high school diploma and still earn above the median U.S. income. You can use [FindTheBest's tool](http://future-jobs.findthebest.com/?utm_medium=editorial&utm_source=time&utm_campaign=kdhillon&utm_content=outlook%20&utm_term=http://future-jobs.findthebest.com/) to sort through more jobs by projected growth, median pay, and education required. | Rank | Job Category | Median Annual Pay | Projected Job Growth, 2012 to 2022 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Supervisors/Managers of Police and Detectives | $78,270 | 4.9% | | 2 | Elevator Installers and Repairers | $76,650 | 24.6% | | 3 | Nuclear Power Reactor Operators | $74,990 | 0.5% | | 4 | Detectives and Criminal Investigators | $74,300 | 2.0% | | 5 | Commercial Pilots | $73,280 | 9.4% | | 6 | Power Distributors and Dispatchers | $71,690 | \-0.9% | | 7 | Supervisors/Managers of Non-Retail Sales Workers | $70,060 | \-0.8% | | 8 | Media and Communication Equipment Workers | $68,810 | \-1.5% | | 9 | Power Plant Operators | $66,130 | \-10.8% | | 10 | Business Operations Specialists | $65,120 | 7.4% | | 11 | Transportation Inspectors | $63,680 | 11.2% | | 12 | Electrical Power Line Installers and Repairers | $63,250 | 8.9% | | 13 | Subway and Streetcar Operators | $62,730 | 6.5% | | 14 | Petroleum, Refinery and Pump System Operators and Gaugers | $61,850 | \-5.1% | | 15 | Gas Plant Operators | $61,140 | \-8.8% | ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs-no-college-degree/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Career Advice", "item": "https://money.com/career-advice/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Highest Paying Jobs", "item": "https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The 15 Highest-Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs-no-college-degree/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs-no-college-degree/", "name": "The 15 Highest-Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-09-11T17:47:18.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs-no-college-degree/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/highest-paying-jobs-no-college-degree/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-07T08:53:13.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The 15 Highest-Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree", "articleSection": "Career Advice", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/09/140911_car_nohigherdegree3.jpg", "width": 5911, "height": 3061, "caption": "140911_CAR_NoHigherDegree3" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kiran Dhillon / FindTheBest", "url": "https://money.com/author/kiran-dhillon-findthebest/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kiran-dhillon-findthebest/#author" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-09-11T17:47:18.000Z", "description": "Not every lucrative job demands years of study, BLS data reveals. 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