- A high school diploma or an associate degree can sometimes lead to high-paying work.
- About a dozen jobs that typically don’t need a bachelor’s degree had six-figure median annual pay.
- Air traffic controller is a high-paying job that doesn’t usually require a bachelor’s.
If you don’t have a bachelor’s degree but want to earn a lot, you could consider becoming an air traffic controller, a power plant operator, or a dental hygienist.
Business Insider ranked median annual wages of jobs that usually just need an associate degree, a high school diploma or the equivalent, a postsecondary nondegree award, or no formal education using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Almost a dozen jobs that typically don’t need a bachelor’s degree had a median annual pay in the six figures. Radiation therapists and nuclear technicians, where the typical requirement for entry is an associate degree, and power distributors and dispatchers, who typically need a high school diploma or the equivalent, had median annual wages of more than $100,000.
Below are the 20 highest-paying jobs that typically don’t need a bachelor’s or more advanced degree. Employment and pay estimates are for 2024, and the education needed for entry reflects 2023.
19. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
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18. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
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17. Postmasters and mail superintendents
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16. Detectives and criminal investigators
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15. Dental hygienists
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14. Nuclear medicine technologists
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13. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers
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12. Power plant operators
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11. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay
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10. Ship engineers
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9. Radiation therapists
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8. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
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7. Nuclear technicians
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6. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
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5. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers
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4. Power distributors and dispatchers
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3. Nuclear power reactor operators
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2. Commercial pilots
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1. Air traffic controllers
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