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Best paying jobs for US workers with high school degrees

August 14, 2014

As of this year, 115 occupations require a high school diploma and pay $20 per hour or more on average, according to an analysis from CareerBuilder and EMSI. Seventy percent of those jobs typically require moderate to long-term on-the-job training or apprenticeships, and 30 percent typically require short-term or no on-the-job training. And several of these jobs may require vocational school or other non-college-level training programs to achieve licensure or certification.

“While the pursuit of higher education is the best bet for gainful employment, it is a myth that only good jobs go to college graduates and that workers with high school degrees are destined to low-wage careers,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “It’s important to note, however, that most high-paying jobs available to high school grads involve skill sets that require extensive post-secondary training or several years’ worth of prior experience, and are often in fields that have seen declining employment in recent years.”

The highest-paying jobs for high school graduates, short-term or no training (by hourly wage):

  1. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers: $39.27
  2. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers: $34.27
  3. Gaming managers: $31.99
  4. Real estate brokers: $29.48
  5. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers: $29.20
  6. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers: $29.13
  7. Legal support workers, all other: $26.97
  8. Postal service mail carriers: $26.75
  9. Transit and railroad police: $26.71
  10. Property, real estate, and community association managers: $26.00

The highest-paying jobs for high school graduates, moderate or long-term training (by hourly wage):

  1. First-line supervisors of police and detectives: $39.16
  2. Elevator installers and repairers: $36.51
  3. Detectives and criminal investigators: $36.33
  4. Nuclear power reactor operators: $36.18
  5. Commercial pilots: $35.73
  6. Power distributors and dispatchers: $34.57
  7. Power plant operators: $32.13
  8. Electrical power-line installers and repairers: $30.92
  9. Transportation inspectors: $30.21
  10. Postmasters and mail superintendents: $30.17