The 39 highest-paying jobs you can get without a bachelor's degree
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.
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
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
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
gorodenkoff/Getty Images
Median annual wage in 2021: $73,580
Number of people employed in 2021: 10,900
Typical education required: Associate's degree
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
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
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
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
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
Paul Sancya/AP
Median annual wage in 2021: $77,360
Number of people employed in 2021: 38,070
Typical education required: Associate's degree
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
Kevin Rivoli/AP
Median annual wage in 2021: $77,810
Number of people employed in 2021: 207,190
Typical education required: Associate's degree
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
Ringo Chiu/Reuters
Median annual wage in 2021: $78,230
Number of people employed in 2021: 80,890
Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award
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
Sergei Bobylev / Getty
Median annual wage in 2021: $78,760
Number of people employed in 2021: 17,140
Typical education required: Associate's degree
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock
Median annual wage in 2021: $81,640
Number of people employed in 2021: 33,490
Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award
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
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
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
Westend61/Getty Images
Median annual wage in 2021: $93,420
Number of people employed in 2021: 22,490
Typical education required: Postsecondary nondegree award
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
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
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
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
Saurabh Das/AP
Median annual wage in 2021: $99,340
Number of people employed in 2021: 5,360
Typical education required: Associate's degree
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
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
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."
Shaun Best/Reuters
Median annual wage in 2021: $129,750
Number of people employed in 2021: 21,230
Typical education required: Associate's degree
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
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.