People who make over 80K with a high school diploma. What do you do?

Railroad Machinist. Without OT 85-90k. With OT 110k. Compensation package is very generous, roughly 160k in total. Not to mention, a full federal pension at 60 years old. If you max out at 30 years of service, the pension for you and your spouse is about $7300 a month. I would recommend you consider serving on the railroad, if you can do the work.

Edit: There is a lot of questions flooding in about life on the Railroad. To answer a few questions:

AGE: Most of the men here are getting close to retirement, and a massive changing of the guard is coming in the next two to four years. If you’re looking to get in then I would start building your resume. The average age is probably 48 - 50 years old? I can only really speak from the Craft side as that’s where I’m at. WORK: I am Turbo Diesel-Electric Locomotive Mechanic and work primarily in a shop. It is not a normal shop, it is a rail yard service center in very large city. The work is anything from changing engines and generators with 30 Ton cranes to troubleshooting air leaks in the middle of yard at 2:30 AM as a train is trying to leave the yard. DANGER: the first 13 days of April at my company (system wide and not just my specific job) consisted of a fatality, two amputations, two broken legs, and 13 other reportable injuries. It’s the railroad, if you can’t handle it and you’re a liability, the men here will ensure you’re not here for very long.

Any apprentice trade job will get you there if you put in the effort. Sales too if you good and making friends and presentable.

85K here and I am a parts supervisor. Just worked hard and was a good employee. I’ve been rewarded

High school graduate and multi time college drop out here. I broke six figures last year in cannabis operations.

Program management in high tech industry. Was in IT for a long time before this. No college, self taught, had a few of the big IT networking certs that have since lapsed.

I do industrial maintenance in a power plant. $106k last year, should get up to $115-120 this year.

I work in residential construction, project manager. Only high school diploma. I'm 39, 21st year in and make 110k. You don't need a degree. I worked in the field 17 years (15 owning my own carpentry business) before going into the management side.

I’m on track to make 200k this year. I’m in tech sales

I believe water treatment is one of the big ones if you don’t have college.

IT and/or IT Management. I do have an A.A.S. from the community college, but has not mattered at all.

Made $88k this year working for an oil & gas service company. It’s not what you think, my work isn’t hard. I sit in a heated (in the winter) and cooled (in the summer) laboratory and tests cement and chemicals. Moving out of that position to get a few months of field experience so I can transition into sales. Working in a degree, currently. Got started in geotechnical engineering testing (asphalt, concrete, soil & aggregates) engineering firms don’t pay well, especially if you aren’t a P.E. or a P.G. Love my company, love what I/ we do and the pay is pretty damn great for an entry level job!

Traffic control for labor union then I went to traffic control in the electrical union. I make 80-100k All depending on how much it rains. All i do is setup road work signs and put out cones and watch traffic all day. some people at my company make 120+ it all depending on how much you want to work.

I make over 80K without a high school diploma, GED, or degree. Not even certifications. I’m a cyber security engineer (92K) and I own a property maintenance business which probably makes more than my cyber job. I work full remote. Been doing this for about 4 years.

I have my degree but got hired at my current place prior to completing it, and it has never been considered for my promotions as I’m in sales, but got my degree in accounting.

Currently senior director est 300k w/ bonuses this year after about 8 years experience in the field.

Sales is a great way to make good money quickly, and provides a ton of transferrable skills. Also, nearly every company has a sales department, so you can traverse industries seamlessly, and work for some really cool companies.

Union electrician. 150-200k

You can make $100k doing anything if you dedicate yourself to it. I have a friend that started working at McDonald’s at 15 and never left. She retired as a senior manager.

Personally I started as an intern at a tiny newspaper making like $4.00 an hour. Worked my way up to VP and now I’m in printing. I have a very large salary and bonus.

Find something you like and work your way up.

Store manager for one of the big 3 wireless carriers in the US. Pays ridiculously well, over 6 figures last year in a rural town where the median income is 25K for an individual and about 66K combined for a household.

My girlfriend is an ER nurse so together we’re beyond well off, all without a degree - just a willingness to learn, adapt, and sell (not so much selling now as that’s my assistant managers responsibility where my role is more focused on operations).

Going back to school to get a degree 10+ years after graduating high school.

For those curious,

Sales Associates make about $50-65K.
Assistant Managers make about 65-85K.
Store Managers make about 80-120K.

Truck Driver, 4 days on, 2 days off. 12-14 hr workday. $105,000

I’m a musician.

$90 per hour teaching piano lessons $500/minimum per performance

I made $105k last year

Air Traffic Control

Trades. Pick one. Apprentice and live a decent life

Self-taught software developer

Playing video games. 85k

My husband works in the automotive industry as a service manager and is on track to make over 400,000 this year. He was I. The military for a few years and started at a tire store and worked his way up.

Admin assistant at a University

NYS Court Officer. After 9 years on the job you make over 6 figures

scammed my way into an engineering position that doesn’t actually require much “engineering”.

Railroad. I make $180k. My best year I made $340k as a director after bonuses and back pay. Just worked my way up. I also work 60 to even sometimes 80 hours a week. I do have technical degrees and a license through a clep test that equals a 6 year degree in electronics. My parents owned a military defense company. I worked there so my resume was perfect for the railroad I work for. They hired me over people with degrees because they know I can’t go anywhere else.

My sister in law is a urologist. She was in school until she was 32. She makes $640k a year. Has about $600-700k in student loan debt. My wife is a lawyer. My wife makes $170k - she has about $300k left in student loan debt.

If you can get into some sort of electrical, hvac or plumbing thing. You’ll get paid to apprentice. All these professions the average age is around 50-55 now. These people will be retiring soon. Which means all that work will be ripe to pick. You’ll be making $200k a year w in the next 5-6 years debt free.

I make 150k before the tax man.... nothing beyond high-school and I'm a recovered Opiate addict. I own a farm (not my source of income) with a 20 year old 2600 sq ft home. I started out turning a wrench, worked my ass off, and eventually became upper management. For context, I worked after High-school, for ten or so years. Had 7 years of hard drug use in that time till i was 28, fully cut that out of my life. 10 years later I'm where I'm at now. My point is opportunity and hard work trump a lot of what life throws at you. I wouldn't say I'm anything special, as in I don't have some special trait that puts me above any other moderately intelligent person.

UPS and USPS

Garbage man... 90k last year with some OT vendors and pension also. Could have worked more if I worked more

My friend dropped out of college (twice) and got a job in customer service. They took a few certification tests, which were paid for by their employer, and moved on up, soon going into tech support. They got their CCNA and started in IT/networking. All the cert study material they said was free off YouTube or given to them by coworkers. They make over 80k and own a house (very low COL state, granted).

However the other part of the equation, much as people dismiss it, is dumb luck. Right place, right time, right connections, etc. And the job market has changed a lot since then, so I can't say it's fool proof by any stretch. But yes people with only a HS diploma can make a decent living. They told me their certs were as good if not better than degrees in many situations, but I take that with a grain of salt

Go get your CDL and work in trash. Your gonna work your ass off but it will be 100k

I was making $100k as a waiter when the pandemic hit. 

Now I make a lot more as a roofing contractor. 

Just learn to do a boring but necessary thing really well.

Union carpenter made 165k last year

40 hr week . 1(5day) week then 1 (4day work week) totaling 80 hrs. Weekends off. No degree. Hvac technician becoming chiller tech. 114400.00 before taxes with no overtime.

Forklift operator 55 hours a week approximately 85k a year. Easy work on phone half the time.

Sales can work but its terrible for your mental health

I’m 25, no college. I’ll break 100k this year working in a power plant as an ops and maintenance technician. I work 14 days a month (12hr shifts), but when we go on outage twice a year for a month each I work 5-6 days a week and rake in the overtime. Also get a 10% bonus every April, and a 3-5% raise every December.

Not me but my wife. She worked her way up the retail ranks after high school, bounced around some different companies getting promotions and got a store manager position then and it took awhile but eventually she became a district manager of her current company where she oversees all the stores in her region. She would tell you the money is good but her Work life balance could be better, a lot of travel and driving. Makes ~125k

Not me but my sailors are Navy Nukes and make above that at E-6 with ~5 years.

I deliver bread, merchandise it, and write orders. Low six figures

I do cyber security and do well for myself. I’m a good talker.

Supervisor for a Transportation Company plus Disability from my prior Military service

Program Manager in Tech. I make 170k + a 20% bonus. I’m not in software but understand enough. It’s a great career & challenging in the best way.

I do F&I in a motorcycle dealership. Raked in over 100k the last few years. Get to sell toys I'm passionate about every day. (No college at all) As other have said any trade skill can make you over 100k a year after awhile.

Im on my way to that goal I'm doing reselling and online business

Ask yourself this... "What would I pay myself 100k per year to do?"

If you were a business owner or customer, what skill set of yours is valuable enough to justify that pay? If you don't currently have one, you will have to learn one whether it's IHL, Military, Trade school... OJT...

Sales. Started at the bottom in retail, got promoted every 18 months for 10 years. Make as much as my hudband, he’s an engineer.

I got lucky, got into sales at a salesforce startup which paid pretty low (about 35k) but used that software side and another connection to get into software testing. From there got into a corporate role doing software testing and worked my way up to QA supervisor where after bonus I first hit 100k. Then transitioned into IT project management and now make about 116 after bonus.

Along the way I got my salesforce administrator certification and the PMI-ACP (prior to making 100k).

I did finally complete my bachelors recently, in fact with some extra classes 3 weeks before my first baby.

I got my associates degree the month I was turning 29. However before that I made $120-$150k.

Get in a trade.

And before anyone bashes me, calls me luck or $h!t talks me I work seven days a week 8 hours a day minimum usually 10-12 hours a day.

I only have a HS diploma. I'm in electrical supplies sales (inside sales) at a desk, answering emails and taking orders over a phone. I DO NOT COLD CALL, I don't go looking for sales. I only help customers who already know what they want and come to me for it. I make 140k/yr pretax. Started in my late 20s now I'm approaching 40. Sales is the way. Being a "people person" makes it easier.

Tech... Study on your own, get some certs, volunteer your services to a local nonprofit for resume material.

Software engineer and started my own tech consulting company. I've never set foot into a college and now I'm on a college curriculum advisory board and give input on coursework for one of their tech programs. Everyone there just assumes that I went to college because of my elevated work position. They didn't ask, so I didn't tell.

Technically I have a degree in applied science, but I got it through my apprenticeship. Commercial and industrial HVAC

If your are mechanically inclined or think you may become so....You must apply for, Be accepted., then complete a Union technical Apprenticeship...

Over 200K, NO high school diploma. No BS. Production to supervisor to department manager to upper management.

Wasn’t able to afford finishing my engineering degree. Only had two years and had to drop. Summer between semesters I worked for an electrician and when I dropped out of college I decided to work towards an electrical license. 18 months later I was a master’s licenced electrician. Worked a few more years for the man and then quit to start my own business. I was young and after going through a divorce pretty much lost everything. I took a job for a chemical plant nearby that needed an electrician and also had experience with automation systems (which I used to do for the other electrician and for myself). 15 years later I am considered a Automation Engineer/ Process Controls Manager . I make about $165k/yr salary +20% bonus. It’s not bad for a mostly 8hr/day 5 days/week job with only having to travel 3 or 4 times a year for a week or so. It’s not bad for an area where the median household income is $40k/yr.

Union elevator mechanic. On track to make 150k this year with minimal OT and I live in a low cost of living state. I’m 31 and have been in the trade for 8 years. Great benefits with full pension at 58. Total package is about 111 dollars an hour

Spectrum Field Tech

I do sales for a custom integrator, about $150k this year and should be getting close to 200 next year

Im an erp functional consultant. Make 6 figures