The 39 highest-paying jobs you can get without a bachelor's degree

subway operator
Subway operators make a median salary of $81,180 a year and typically need at least a high school diploma or equivalent. Mario Tama/Getty Images
  • Not all jobs require a four-year college degree or higher to earn a large salary.
  • We looked at jobs where the typical education requirement is less than a bachelor's degree. 
  • The following are the 39 highest-paying jobs where you don't need a four-year degree.
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39. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers

Mechanic
sturti/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $71,260

Number of people employed in 2021: 526,240

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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38. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

Construction managers looking over construction plans
Maskot/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $72,010

Number of people employed in 2021: 665,870

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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37. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

In this Friday, April 17, 2020, photo, Chris Petersen looks at a Berkshire hog in a pen on his farm near Clear Lake, Iowa. COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has created problems for all meat producers, but pork farmers have been hit especially hard. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Associated Press

Median annual wage in 2021: $73,060

Number of people employed in 2021: 5,220

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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36. Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians

aerospace technician
gorodenkoff/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $73,580

Number of people employed in 2021: 10,900

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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35. Funeral home managers

Funeral home casket
Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $74,000

Number of people employed in 2021: 12,710

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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34. Pile driver operators

Photo of a pile driver
Hildegarde/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $76,260

Number of people employed in 2021: 3,760

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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33. Gambling managers

casino
Sasha Cornish / EyeEm/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $76,910

Number of people employed in 2021: 3,660

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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32. Transportation equipment electrical and electronics installers and repairers

train repair
Monty Rakusen/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $77,250

Number of people employed in 2021: 10,710

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award

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31. Athletes and sports competitors

Football players playing football. One of the athletes is running with the football in his hand.
skynesher/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $77,300

Number of people employed in 2021: 12,320

Typical education required: No formal educational credential

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30. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

MRI brain injury
Paul Sancya/AP

Median annual wage in 2021: $77,360

Number of people employed in 2021: 38,070

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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29. Diagnostic medical sonographers

sonographer
Star Tribune via Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $77,740

Number of people employed in 2021: 78,640

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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28. Dental hygienists

dental hygenist
Kevin Rivoli/AP

Median annual wage in 2021: $77,810

Number of people employed in 2021: 207,190

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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27. Gas plant operators

operator gas and oil
curraheeshutter/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $77,850

Number of people employed in 2021: 15,110

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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26. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers

firefighter
Ringo Chiu/Reuters

Median annual wage in 2021: $78,230

Number of people employed in 2021: 80,890

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award

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25. Electrical power-line installers and repairers

electrical power line worker repair
Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $78,310

Number of people employed in 2021: 123,940

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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24. Nuclear medicine technologists

nuclear medicine
Sergei Bobylev / Getty

Median annual wage in 2021: $78,760

Number of people employed in 2021: 17,140

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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23. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

petroleum pump
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $79,540

Number of people employed in 2021: 34,230

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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22. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers

program manager
Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $79,680

Number of people employed in 2021: 243,920

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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21. Locomotive engineers

locomotive train
Jason Reed/Reuters

Median annual wage in 2021: $79,740

Number of people employed in 2021: 38,980

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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20. Transportation inspectors

transportation inspector
Larry W. Smith / Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $79,770

Number of people employed in 2021: 25,070

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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19. Postmasters and mail superintendents

mailman mail bills
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $80,250

Number of people employed in 2021: 12,750

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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18. Signal and track switch repairers

train tracks shift
Reuters / Mike Segar

Median annual wage in 2021: $80,570

Number of people employed in 2021: 8,090

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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17. Power plant operators

Russia floating power plant
Alexander Ryumin/TASS/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $80,850

Number of people employed in 2021: 28,960

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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16. Subway and streetcar operators

subway operator
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $81,180

Number of people employed in 2021: 10,310

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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15. Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels

boat captain
Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock

Median annual wage in 2021: $81,640

Number of people employed in 2021: 33,490

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award

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14. Ship engineers

marine engineer
Igor-Kardasov/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $82,410

Number of people employed in 2021: 7,650

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award

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13. Radiation therapists

hospital cat scan surgery doctors
Theo Heimann/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $82,790

Number of people employed in 2021: 16,050

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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12. Detectives and criminal investigators

nypd police detectives
BrandonKleinVideo/Shutterstock

Median annual wage in 2021: $83,640

Number of people employed in 2021: 107,890

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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11. Powerhouse, substation, and relay electrical and electronics repairers

electrical engineer
Westend61/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $93,420

Number of people employed in 2021: 22,490

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award

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10. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers

Escalator repair
Korrakot Sittivash / EyeEm/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $97,860

Number of people employed in 2021: 22,510

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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9. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers

unboxing xbox one trucks
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Median annual wage in 2021: $98,230

Number of people employed in 2021: 144,640

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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8. Power distributors and dispatchers

energy power dispatcher
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $98,530

Number of people employed in 2021: 9,660

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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7. First-line supervisors of police and detectives

police captain
Adrees Latif/Reuters

Median annual wage in 2021: $99,330

Number of people employed in 2021: 128,230

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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6. Nuclear technicians

nuclear technician
Saurabh Das/AP

Median annual wage in 2021: $99,340

Number of people employed in 2021: 5,360

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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5. Commercial pilots

airline pilot
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Median annual wage in 2021: $99,640

Number of people employed in 2021: 42,770

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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4. Nuclear power reactor operators

nuclear power plant worker
Dmitry Lobanov/Shutterstock

Median annual wage in 2021: $104,260

Number of people employed in 2021: 4,820

Typical education required: High school diploma or equivalent

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3. Medical dosimetrists

MRI radiologists or technologists sitting at the console in the operating room and operating the MRI scanner
simonkr/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $127,270

Number of people employed in 2021: 2,400

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award*

*This education requirement comes from the employment title "medical dosimetrists, medical records specialists, and health technologists and technicians, all other."

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2. Air traffic controllers

Air Canada Air Traffic Control
Shaun Best/Reuters

Median annual wage in 2021: $129,750

Number of people employed in 2021: 21,230

Typical education required: Associate's degree

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1. Theatrical and performance makeup artists

makeup artists for play
Hill Street Studios/Getty Images

Median annual wage in 2021: $​​134,750

Number of people employed in 2021: 1,960

Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award

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Method and data source

There are plenty of high-paying jobs that require only a two-year associate degree, postsecondary nondegree certificate, or even just a high-school diploma. They may not even require a formal educational credential at all.

Insider decided to look at which jobs do not require a bachelor's degree or higher and are also high-paying. To do this, we used the latest educational data and salary figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Of the top 39 jobs on our list, each occupation had a median annual salary of over $70,000 in May 2021, the latest year of available data in the BLS' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.

Some occupations from the 39 highest-paying are part of the transportation sector. This includes subway and streetcar operators as well as locomotive engineers. Other jobs also include technicians and repairers, such as electrical power-line installers and repairers.

In our ranking, we included each occupation's median annual salary and employment figures from May 2021. We also included each occupation's minimum educational requirement.

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