Kiplinger

15 Best Jobs You Can Get Without a College Degree

The highest-paying jobs typically require a big investment in education. But you can still follow plenty of good career paths straight out of high school, saving yourself the time and money you'd spend on college and getting yourself paid starting young. Indeed, according to a 2018 report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), there are about 13 million good jobs available for people treading the high school pathway to work, which equates to 20% of all good jobs in the U.S. (Georgetown's CEW defines a "good job" as paying a minimum median of $35,000 a year for workers between ages 25 and 44 and $45,000 for those age 45 to 64.)

To help you pinpoint all those good job opportunities, we got to work on crunching the numbers for you. Focusing on fields that are collecting generous paychecks now and are projected to expand greatly over the next decade, we ranked 773 popular occupations to see which ones offer the most promising futures. These 15 are the top jobs in our rankings that you can score without a college degree.

1. Services Sales Rep*

Getty Images

Total number of jobs: 1.1 million

Projected job growth, 2017-2027: 12.5% (All jobs: 9.7%)

Median annual salary: $51,437 (All jobs: $43,992)

Typical education: High school diploma or equivalent

Everybody's selling something--and businesses in a range of industries continue to need closers. Indeed, employers seeking sales representatives of services that do not fit neatly into Labor Department definitions include such varied names as Fiserv, Lowe's, IBM and JPMorgan Chase. And though online sales may dampen demand for these workers, they remain necessary in building and maintaining a solid

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Kiplinger

Kiplinger4 min read
This New Sustainable ETF’s Pitch? Give Back Profits.
Feel like society and the environment are beginning to break down? There’s an ETF for that. Newday Impact’s Sustainable Development Goals ETF (SDGS) delivers a growth-oriented product that promotes dual impact, promising to advocate for environmental
Kiplinger3 min read
Cryptocurrency: Stay In? Get Out? How to Decide?
Warren Buffett is famous for saying “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.” If you invested in cybercoins, the news has not been good lately. Are you wearing your bathing suit?  What to do?  Is time to take your profi
Kiplinger4 min read
Got Crypto? The IRS Really Wants to Know
The 2022 crypto price crash understandably has some investors concerned. But for those of you who haven’t run for the hills, it’s worth knowing that cryptocurrency currently has the attention of not only the Biden administration, and Congress, but th

Related Books & Audiobooks