September 22, 2026 09:00 AM PST
(PenniesToSave.com) – For decades, many Americans heard the same advice: earn a four-year degree, and a good paycheck will follow [2]. With tuition and student debt pushing families to question that formula, interest in high-paying jobs that skip the bachelor’s degree has grown, along with public policy supporting training for them [4]. A new analysis offers a reality check. Niche, a higher-education platform, released findings Monday showing that only 9.4% of occupations with a median wage of $100,000 or more do not require a bachelor’s degree, The Washington Post reported [4]. Those occupations make up just 0.3% of the 13.8 million openings projected each year in jobs where a bachelor’s is not a prerequisite [4]. Based on those Niche figures, that works out to roughly 41,400 six-figure openings a year across the entire non-degree job market.
That does not mean the path is closed. It means the path is narrow, demanding, and often misunderstood. The highest-paying jobs without a bachelor’s typically require federal certification or specialized training [4]. Popular trades pay solid, middle-class wages rather than six figures [1]. And for many workers, the largest financial gains come later, through supervision, licensing, and owning a business [4].
Quick Links
- Which Jobs Without a Bachelor’s Degree Actually Pay Six Figures?
- Do Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Techs Really Earn $100,000?
- Which Employers Will Pay to Train New Hires From Scratch?
- Is a Four-Year Degree Still Worth the Cost?
- Are Employers Really Dropping Degree Requirements?
- Where Does Skilled Work Lead Over a Full Career?
Which Jobs Without a Bachelor’s Degree Actually Pay Six Figures?
Niche’s analysis, drawn from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, found that the top-paying jobs without a bachelor’s requirement cluster in a handful of highly regulated fields [4]. According to Newser’s summary of the findings, air traffic controllers lead the list with a median salary of $148,080, followed by commercial pilots at $123,220, nuclear reactor operators at $122,890, and elevator and escalator installers at $109,910 [1]. A separate review of the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook by Hearst Television’s data team also placed elevator installers and nuclear reactor operators at a median of $100,000 or more [6].
Fewer than 1 in 10 occupations with a six-figure median skip the bachelor’s degree requirement. [1]
Niche analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data
The Niche list does not capture every six-figure option. FinanceBuzz reports a median salary of $102,040 for power plant operators, a job it says employers fill based on mechanical aptitude and a high school diploma [3]. Hearst’s review also places power plant operators at $100,000 or more and lists a $100,000 median for transportation, storage, and distribution managers [6].
What ties these jobs together is gatekeeping by training rather than tuition. Air traffic controllers, for example, train through the Federal Aviation Administration instead of a traditional four-year program [2]. Several of these roles list a high school diploma as the entry credential [3][6], yet Niche’s findings show they still demand far more preparation than a diploma alone provides [4]. Anyone targeting these careers should plan on years of structured training and testing, not a shortcut.
Do Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Techs Really Earn $100,000?
Skilled trades have become a symbol of the debt-free path, and politicians and business leaders have promoted electrical work, HVAC, and plumbing as routes to $100,000 incomes [4]. The median figures tell a more modest story. According to Newser’s summary of the Niche analysis, plumbers earn a median of $63,800, electricians $63,190, HVAC technicians $61,010, and welders $53,750 [1].
For context, the median U.S. salary in 2025 was $62,608, or about $1,204 a week, according to FinanceBuzz [3]. That places the typical trade paycheck close to the national median, though the two sets of figures may draw on different data years. Niche economist Allison Shrivastava told The Washington Post that some trade jobs can pay six figures early in a career, but described those as exceptions rather than the rule [4].
A median income is not a consolation prize, particularly when it arrives without years of student loan payments attached. For households already carrying balances, knowing how to pay off debt strategically can matter as much as the size of the paycheck.
The trades also offer a ladder. Hearst’s review places median pay for first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers between $75,000 and nearly $100,000, with electrical power-line installers in the same range and projected to grow more than 7% from 2025 to 2035 [6]. Many construction managers start in the trades and work their way into leadership, often without the debt tied to a four-year degree [2].
Which Employers Will Pay to Train New Hires From Scratch?
An experience requirement can be as discouraging as a degree requirement. FinanceBuzz identified several jobs paying $60,000 or more where employers expect to train new hires from the ground up [3]. Those listings focus on experience rather than education, so applicants should confirm any education requirement with each employer.
Subway and streetcar operators earn a median of $86,380, and most cities require a civil service exam followed by a paid training program lasting three to six months [3]. Police officers earn a median of $79,280, and recruits who pass a background check and physical test attend roughly six months of paid academy training [3].
The insurance industry is another entry point. Claims adjusters earn a median of $78,000, and large carriers typically pay for licensing and provide several months of supervised training, according to FinanceBuzz [3]. Insurance agents earn a median of $62,280, and many major carriers hire unlicensed trainees and cover their training and exam fees [3]. Business-to-business sales representatives earn $76,460, while flight attendants earn $63,580 after three to eight weeks of paid airline training [3]. Power plant operators follow a longer road, typically starting in assistant positions and advancing through years of on-the-job instruction [3].
The common thread is who carries the risk. When an employer pays for training, the worker earns a paycheck while learning instead of borrowing to learn. That shifts the cost of starting over from the household to the company, which is a meaningful advantage for anyone changing careers mid-stream.
Is a Four-Year Degree Still Worth the Cost?
None of this makes college a bad investment by default. Niche’s analysis found four times as many openings in jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree, but those jobs generally pay less, with median earnings averaging around $45,000 a year compared with $96,000 for openings seeking bachelor’s degree holders [4]. That gap of roughly $51,000 a year is difficult to ignore.
The difference also widens with age. A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found the college wage premium grows from 27% at age 25 to 60% at age 55 [4]. Research from the College Board reports that 40% of adults ages 35 to 44 with bachelor’s degrees earned more than $100,000 in 2024, compared with 13% of high school graduates [4]. Zack Mabel, interim director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, told the Post that degree holders earning six figures tend to be much younger than peers without a degree earning the same, and that the return on a degree varies by field of study [4]. In practice, the major and the price matter as much as the diploma itself.
A middle path also exists. Diagnostic medical sonographers and surgical technologists typically need a certification or associate degree rather than a four-year program [2]. Mary Alice McCarthy of New America said well-paying careers generally require some education after high school, whether a certificate, an associate degree, or a bachelor’s [4]. Jerry Rubin, a senior adviser at the Harvard Project on the Workforce, cautioned that growing opportunity outside college does not mean families should reject it, while also arguing that college is not the right fit for everyone [6].
“College is not for every student.” [6]
Jerry Rubin, Harvard Project on the Workforce
Are Employers Really Dropping Degree Requirements?
Policymakers across the political spectrum have moved to open doors for workers without degrees. Governors in more than 30 states, including Maryland, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, have committed to skills-based hiring by removing bachelor’s degree requirements for public sector roles [4]. Florida, Georgia, and Utah are among the other states that have directed agencies to drop nonessential degree requirements, according to The U.S. Sun [5]. Both the Trump and Biden administrations also revised degree requirements for federal jobs [4]. In the private sector, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that 70% of employers now use skills-based hiring practices, according to FinanceBuzz [3].
Results have lagged the momentum. A 2025 study by Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute found that fewer than 1 in 700 new hires benefited from no-degree policies, and that hiring of candidates without a college credential rose only 3.5 percentage points over the period the researchers examined, 2014 to 2023 [4]. Mabel said credentialed candidates remain much more likely to land these roles, and warned that a worker hired by one skills-first employer may find the next employer less flexible [4].
Fewer than 1 in 700 new hires benefited from no-degree hiring policies. [4]
Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute
The issue carries extra weight for experienced workers. Census Bureau data cited by The U.S. Sun shows 42.8% of adults ages 25 to 39 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with about 34.2% of adults 55 and older [5]. For people with decades of work history and no bachelor’s degree on the résumé, skills-based hiring is more than a policy talking point. It can decide whether an application gets read at all.
Where Does Skilled Work Lead Over a Full Career?
For many skilled workers, the first paycheck is only the starting point. McCarthy, senior director of the Center on Education & Labor at New America, said apprenticeships and union trade programs open doors to higher-paying jobs, but that tradespeople who build lasting wealth often do it by starting their own businesses and contracting firms [4].
“The real path to long-term prosperity does require that kind of evolution.” [4]
Mary Alice McCarthy, New America
Ownership rewards initiative, but it also hands the owner responsibility for funding a secure retirement, so it pays to understand how retirement accounts work before making the leap. McCarthy also pointed to headwinds, saying the decline of labor unions in the trades since the 1970s has eroded earning power and that many lucrative manufacturing jobs lost during the Great Recession were replaced with lower-paying service work [4].
Choosing the right field matters as much as choosing the right credential. Hearst’s review projects employment growth of more than 7% for power-line installers and 5% to 6% for elevator installers and for transportation, storage, and distribution managers from 2025 to 2035 [6]. Nuclear reactor operators and power plant operators, despite six-figure median pay, are projected to see employment decline by 1% or more over the same decade [6]. Rubin attributed growth in construction, manufacturing, and the skilled trades partly to an aging workforce [6]. A high salary in a shrinking field can be harder to hold onto than a moderate one in a field that keeps adding jobs.
Final Thoughts
A six-figure income without a bachelor’s degree is achievable, but it is not common. Niche’s analysis puts those jobs at 0.3% of annual openings that skip the bachelor’s requirement, and the best-paying among them demand certification, specialized training, or years of experience [4]. Careers such as air traffic controller, commercial pilot, and elevator installer show what is possible for those willing to earn the credentials [1].
For most households, the more realistic promise of the trades is a solid, median-level income without student debt, with room to grow through supervision, licensing, and eventually ownership [3][4]. That is a sound foundation, and it rewards the kind of steady discipline that builds wealth over a working lifetime.
College remains a strong option for many, but its value depends on the field and the price [4]. Before committing to any path, it helps to ask who pays for the training, whether the field is projected to grow through 2035, and whether future employers will value skills as much as the first one does [3][6]. For anyone planning a career switch, setting up automatic savings ahead of time can cushion the months spent in training.
Works Cited
[1] Johnson, John. “A Look at Six-Figure Jobs That Don’t Require a Degree.” Newser, 21 Sept. 2026, www.newser.com/story/396770/six-figure-jobs-without-a-degree-are-real-but-rare.html.
[2] Pugh, Chris. “Which Jobs Pay the Most without a College Degree?” Yahoo Finance, 19 Sept. 2026, finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/jobs-pay-most-without-college-093113448.html.
[3] Koebert, Josh. “10 Jobs That Pay $60,000+ That Actually Mean It When They Say ‘No Experience Necessary.'” FinanceBuzz, 21 Sept. 2026, financebuzz.com/news/jobs-60k-salary-no-experience-3.
[4] Douglas-Gabriel, Danielle. “Jobs That Earn Six Figures without Going to College (and Why They Are Rare).” The Washington Post, 21 Sept. 2026, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/09/21/jobs-that-earn-six-figures-without-going-college-why-they-are-rare/.
[5] Willeford, Jacob. “10 Jobs That Pay up to $101,000 per Year That Don’t Require a Degree for Over-50 Workers.” The U.S. Sun, 17 Sept. 2026, www.the-sun.com/money/17018879/high-paying-jobs-no-college-degree-seniors/.
[6] Hearst Television. “What Are Fast-Growing Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree?” Greenwich Time, 20 Sept. 2026, www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/what-are-fast-growing-jobs-that-don-t-require-a-22439452.php.