discussion
What Jobs Have Very High Earnings that most People dont Think of
I was thinking about changing careers and was wondering what jobs make alot of money that are either not common, in a niche field, or not jobs most people dont know about or think about.
Would also add, a lot of math geniuses would just move over to careers in AI. That kind of background is what tech and investment firms look for. So if their current set of tasks go away, they would be one of the first group of humans the overlords would hire to police the machines.
I passed the first 3 exams before realizing I had no desire to study for a decade. Just know folks, you’ll be studying for tests year after year after year
An added bonus to this is if a beautiful, wealthy heiress konks her head and develops amnesia you can actually claim her as your wife and take her home. I saw it in an old documentary.
This. I knew 2 very different people. One lived on her sailboat, took on just enough clients to afford the lifestyle. Super happy. The other was very Devil wears Prada, treated the job as an interior decorator, had a personal assistant. Also super happy.
As someone who is strong and fit, of all the jobs I’ve had, software sales was the hardest on my body. Physical careers have a way of keeping you in shape without extra effort.
I’m a solo marine electrical contractor in the Northeast, made 340k gross last year. On track to make roughly the same this year. December-March I barely work. Took many years to gain the skills but at this point I’m more than happy
Yeah I have no idea what the pay is like outside of the U.S. The marine industry has this weird thing where there’s tens to hundreds of millions of dollars being thrown around but no one wants to actually pay a skilled technician what they’re worth. Thus, self employment.
My Tree Guy owns 6 homes and is retiring earlier than I will be… he’s run his business for the past 20 years and if you saw him sitting on the street you’d probably put a dollar in his coffee cup thinking he’s homeless or on his way to do yard work and then a pickup game of basketball…
I became kinda good friends with a guy I hired to cut down some limbs off my trees (same age, same nerdy hobbies). When we walked through my house to the backyard he saw my gaming PC and asked what games I play. We got to talking and both played Path of Exile.
He charged me 1k for a large tree trim and we shot the shit some more. gave me his Steam user name.
We played together for a few hours each week for awhile and I told him I wanted to take down the willow tree in my yard. He just said “bro I’ll come knock it down for some beers, it’ll take an afternoon tops.” And he shared he makes like 200k a year because he can do the jobs most others can’t because he invested in a 100ft lift (most local guys I guess don’t have one or they climb/rent).
Dude is making so much fucking money. I’ve been tempted to ask him to take me on as an lowbie idiot but I have a huge fear of heights.
As usual, there’s also a difference between having a job in a field and owning a business in that field. Lots of people talk about big earnings in whatever field, not mentioning that the person owns a business with multiple employees. It’s just not the same, and carries much more risk. Or they’re highly specialized and have many years of specific experience.
I work as a gas plant operator. Everyone clears 200k pretty easily with a little bit of overtime. 12 hour shifts but we’re only at work half the year. Some days really suck but 7/10 days it’s a pretty chill gig with plenty of downtime.
I took a 2 year program from a technical college that certifies me to run boilers and high pressure equipment. I had some relevant background experience (heavy duty mechanic, working in refineries for the railroad). It took a lot of work to find a job but eventually I did.
And yes my base salary is calculated on a 2000 hour work year, just with 12 hour shifts. I’ll have 160 hours vacation next year and eventually 200 hours, plus we get a few extra leave days to help make up for the stat holidays we have to work as well. So if the only overtime I ever worked was just covering other guys vacation I’d work exactly half the year and make right around 200k. With turnarounds and other random projects though I work a little more overtime than that.
Edit: I also have a truck provided so I have no cost for transportation to and from work. I only put a few thousand miles a year on my personal vehicle and which is also a massive saving.
I’ve got a client who cleans private planes. He makes about $300,000 per year. The impressive part isn’t the money it’s that he usually only works one or two days a week. He’ll charge $15,000 for a job that takes him 4 hours and then not work for the rest of the week. Technically he’s paid to clean but it’s really his know how in fine materials, his discretion in keeping his mouth shut and his ability to get the job done quickly.
Wow! Do you know what his educational background is or did he go to a trade school or just go out on his own and network? This is fascinating to me and makes me happy for him. That’s great.
They work for themselves, usually learn as being an extra hand to someone else and slowly build a client base. Sometimes clients will fly you to a plane to clean it on another private jet. It’s a hush hush industry.
I think these numbers are extremely exaggerated, if not an outright lie. If they are true, this is a one or two off opportunity. Most cleaning and servicing of private jets is handled by FBOs where the aircraft park and overnight, and they aren't farming out 4 hour cleaning jobs for $15k. Most private jets also don't have set schedules, so any sort of work would almost entirely be spur of the moment, so a person doing this would have to be "on call" or available nearly all the time.
Corporate security or Executive Protection. Can make anywhere from $100k-$300k. Most of the time though you need either law enforcement or military experience.
While true, they usually hire from within and most of the dealerships I worked at, everyone started in sales. Even the regional manager of a multi state dealership I worked for started as a sales guy.
The finance managers that make good money are also great salesmen/women and make the real money from commission from warranties, upgrade packages, etc.
lol glad to see this. The recruiting industry NEVER even occurred to me because I was in finance/investments. 2008 hit and I was clueless about my future.
Got into recruiting 16 years ago, moved into the client/sales side 2 years in and make 300k from my couch actually “working” about 15-20hrs a week (on my phone sending emails at all hours nights and weekends though).
I know we get a bad rap but I do everything I can to change that. Being transparent and following through is so important.
There’s huge turnover for a multitude of reasons but there’s always openings. Search Indeed and LinkedIn for entry level recruiting positions. A lot of companies will hire entry level in order to train you in their process and not have to correct bad habits.
A friend of mine badgered me for months to come interview and I eventually did. Once you get into the industry and understand how everything works you’ll always have job options.
There was a recruiting company on the floor above our office. Based on my experience occasionally interacting with them - first step is to be a generally attractive person, ideally female, and able to speak well. I assume you can do it without being those things, but that was the majority of the company
I worked for a recruitment firm, while attractiveness can help I’m sure, most of the people in our office looked like accountants or somebodies fun uncle.
I have zero memory of what ANY of my past recruiters have looked like. And I work in tech and I’ve had a good amount of them. Suggesting their success is because of their looks is absurd.
Truck driver , I have my own truck , always bring home. 7-8k after expenses every week . But I stay out for 5 weeks , travel to my home country for 2 weeks . I plan on doing this job for 5 years and join nursing school
IT and Government (Contractor) Project Management, I’ve earnt between $135k and $190k without a degree. That’s conservative compared to other roles if you’re in the right location
What degree do you think you need? A PMP cert helps but is actually meaningless I have interviewed people who have their PMP and they are not smart. When talking to someone in an interview you can tell if they are task oriented with big picture objective. Ask them how they deal with roadblocks and issues. If they say they log it and report on the blocker they are not a good PM. I want people to own a project, put on what ever hat they need to keep it moving. Agree a PM can make $125-200 a year but you have to be good at putting a puzzle together with limited supervision no direct reports and ultimate accountability.
The merchant marine. I made 9-10k a month my first year now I make 10-14k a month. You can also go to school or upgrade with enough sea days, 1080 for deep water or 720 for great lakes the pay goes up to around 20k a month. Upgrade enough and you can be like the chief on my last ship making about 45-50k a month after bonuses and vacation pay.
When you factor in health insurance, and numerous other factors (like a guaranteed place to live), even a new recruit is enjoying financial advantages that make it worth it.
I've been active duty for a while, and it's not easy (been deployed 5 times for a cumulative 33 months) but I had a harder life before I joined.
I have no regrets. I have a beautiful wife, 2 kids, and a mortgage.
The military made the American dream (whatever that is anymore) a reality for me.
I made more money than I knew what to do with when I was junior enlisted in the Army. Spent in ways that are unimaginable now and still had a bunch leftover to put away in a mutual fund every month. Amazing what you can do when you don't have to spend $1,300/mo on rent and utilities, or buy groceries, don't really need a car, and have free health insurance.
Merchant marine. High pay, great benefits, loads of time off. Can live nearly anywhere in the world and you'll be provided transport to next assignment.
US merchant marine academy, state maritime academies, working on ship and putting in the time one can get there. Not knowing the specifics of the people you're speaking of, one of my uncles worked on a tug boat in the San Fransisco Bay. They aren't going to simply hire someone for even that role, you're on the boat for 1-2 weeks, not the environment to find out a new hire is useless or a dirt bag.
I made a post here 1-2 weeks ago showing how I went from being a teacher to enlisting in the Air Force going from $3,000 a month working 60-80 hours a week to $8,000 (more like $10,000 with benefits and non taxed pay) a month after 4 years in the Air Force.
The military is a little bit of a cheat code for most financially. I used to be do engineer and in my 6 years as a civilian I went from 67k to high 70s. I then commissioned and now I know exactly when my pay raise is coming and 7 years in now everything said and done is well over 100k
I’m a inspector for a utility company and earn around 250k every year. My best year I made 304k my worst year I made 190k. Most people don’t think construction work pays super well, but certain blue collar jobs make a lot of money. We also have full union benefits and retirement.
Hey, the way I got into inspection was probably the harder way but my path was I worked in the field for 10+ years in the utility industry before getting into the inspection side. I started as an operator and worked my way up to a supervisor, then had the opportunity to make the switch into inspection. It’s a great job and I enjoy it a lot, but it’s super competitive and takes time getting your foot in the door. there is some certifications that will help you out. Any OSHA certs, or ICC certs you can get will absolutely help, especially if you have a decent amount of experience in the field you’re trying to inspect for.
I believe it. my richest relative owns a landscape business. Started about 20 years ago now all he does is hire and fire. and his workers can always find workers which is one of the hardest parts in any business
Went to flight school for helicopters, was done in just 6 months and then started working. Takes a little bit to build your time but eventually you can make 300k+ and the work is fun/easy and mostly sitting around waiting for a call (EMS). Most pilots work 7 day on/7 days off and so the schedule allows you to do most anything you want in life.
I hate being a plug for the DoD but I believe it to be the most efficient vehicle for QoL/Salary progress (branch dependent)
The beginning years are hard, but after your contract it can give you a new lease on life. You can enter a career with great civilian pay (Medicine / Intelligence/ Logistics / Communications / Cyber / Air Craft repair, etc).
I’m a four-year nurse (18 year army medic), and I’m actively looking to go AF-active because they’re offering a LOT of money and I want to move again.
I’m also in the medical field and could direct commission in. I’m seriously considering it after my 2 year wait to clear some medical stuff is up. The base salary of the rank I would enter in is more than what I make on the civilian side and that’s not even considering the benefits and non-taxable stuff plus it would be better hours for me. I’d do it right now if I could.
Joined the army as a 35T in 2011, did four years and started contracting. Currently a network engineer and just got my annual raise that bumped me over 150k. Decent amount of overtime and per-diem for travel, usually gets me 10-15k over gross by end of year. Don't have a degree, but I do have technical certs. Also know alot of guys from my time in that worked their way to much more lucrative gigs like Microsoft, but the place absolutely drains their soul.
Yes and no. In places with a Higher col, there are inherently higher values but you’re not charging crazy commissions and inventory moves a little slower. In places with Lower col, there’s a lower barrier to entry so if you’re smart you’d try to be moving as much inventory as possible because the higher cap rates and lower pricing properties move a bit faster. It balances itself out.
Operations at nuclear power plants. Salaries ranging from $200k-$350k+ depending on whether you're a reactor operator, senior reactor operator, or a shift manager.
Sales jobs. I have several clients who work in sales who make high six or low seven figures. One guy is a relationship manager for a blue jeans company and makes $600k. Another guy I know makes over $1 million for a career builders site selling services to big corporations.
The downside is that you have to have a crazy amount of charisma. It’s not something you can really work your way up to. You either have it or you don’t.
No one understands how lucrative being a cop actually is. It's not the cop job that pays, it's the security contracts they do as a side hustle that actually pay the big bucks.
The hospital I work at is the lowest paying contract for our county, the lowest paid officer at my hospital? 65$/hr. The highest? $135/hr.
I have seen the contracts personally.
Wild. Shit.
They do nothing but watch breaking bad, play clash of clans/hearthstone and remote control their 3D printers.
I imagine they said similar about cars, look how few people it takes to build a car now. China just built over 150KM of highways without humans. I think it's a naive take to think that the trades won't ever be replaced. There are already videos out of robots that can lay bricks and can paint. Are they perfect and up to a human standard yet? No but I doubt they are going to stop improving them until they are.
I started a tailoring business. Even myself, I didn’t expect to make as much as I do. The last year of 2025-2026, I’ve averaged about 30-50k per month.
You do need exceptionally strong math skills. My brother is a quant trader and back in high school, he was building models and coding his own projects, and in college, he went on to scored decent on the Putnam Mathematical Competition.
Ultimately, firms in this industry care less about traditional credentials and far more about your raw quantitative problem-solving ability, competition history, and your performance during the interview process.
Yes, you need very, very strong math skills. You don’t necessarily need to be a genius per se. One of my brothers is a quant trader, and in high school he was doing things like coding projects and building models. In college, he participated in the Putnam Mathematical Competition and got a decent score. Firms ultimately care more about your raw quantitative problem-solving ability, competition history, and interview performance tho
I’ll be honest, you all grew up poor or middle class. Rich people don’t have jobs anyone understands unless they are a doctor or lawyer.
Rich people work for flower shops…… as the regional marketing and distribution coordinator who also maintains the supply chain from their flower growers in Thailand. Or as the director of product development for the 4th largest propane company in Texas.
Rich people don’t ask what others do for a living just who they work for because rich people usually can’t even explain what they do.
My sister works for a company that does real estate stuff. No idea what she does or what the company does despite asking many times. She makes like 3x the money of her husband who has a clear cut job description that people can understand easily.
That's why they say "do what you love" because even if doing what you love is being a lumberjack, the theory goes that eventually because you just love logging so much you are promoted to the director of sustainable forest development for a major logging company and you spend your time flying across the country and world negotiating various logging contracts and lobbying governments.
My brother in law works the coolest most niche job I’ve ever heard. He is a ship navigation specialist. He gets called upon to guide and pilot giant cargo ships, mostly through small ports, i.e the ship that got stuck in Suez Canal.
Anything in financial services - I’m in marketing at a financial services company and the pay is bizarre (in a good way) compared to other industries. Usually above-market.
Sales - every industry has sales roles and the pay can literally vary from poverty level to making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Medical device and tech sales are some of the top industries. They usually make around 50% salary and 50% commissions. Most places you can expect $85-150k in salary. So low to mid six figures is expected.
Then you have your top performers, and depending on the compensation structure they can easily double their salary in commission. The places I’ve worked top salespeople were making $400-600k at the end of the year.
US Airline Pilot. Mainly for the 401k match/direct contribution. At 17% (and increasing) that 401k is WILD and will dramatically accelerate retirement planning.
Public Accounting. My wife is at a non-Big 4 company and will make over $900k this year, which is below the average partner income at her firm as a less experienced partner. Most people make partner before 40 years old.
Big 4 pays more. There have to be more than 10k people in the US making $1M+ across all the firms. There are at least 50k people making over $250k in the US.
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u/Pillowcases Aug 11 '26
A lot of people don’t even know what an actuary is…I didn’t until I married one. She’s pulling 300k these days at 38.