5 blue-collar jobs that pay $ 100K

[MillCreek]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-blue-collar-jobs-that-pay-100000-a-year-2015-01-08?reflink=MW_GoogleNews&google_editors_picks=true

I also read the WSJ article linked there about the 24 year old making $ 140K/year as a welder.  However, he is working 72 hours a week to do it.

[French G.]

Any job where you make that is going to be more than 40 hours per week. I don't really buy the police officer thing, ok they have NYC as an example with a cop union and a ridiculous cost of living. I know I looked at local cop jobs in 2011 before taking my current job, around here you are lucky to start at 30K. With 350 hours of OT I grossed around 65K last year as a welder, not bad for no travel, no outside. In addition to the OT that takes working nights for shift diff and doing foreman duties for more $$.  There are no free lunches, and that is neither top pay or anywhere close to starting pay. And I kinda know what I am doing. For every 100K welding job there are 40 $15/hour ones.

If I wanted to start again I'd look at being an electrician. I'd like to work in an industrial enviro like our electricians, the less homeowners, the better.

[Boomhauer]

Some of the jobs they listed (like the bartender) are heavily dependent on location, such as in a major city, where the cost of living quickly soaks up the higher pay level.

Some of the others are very varied on the salary.

I also read the WSJ article linked there about the 24 year old making $ 140K/year as a welder.  However, he is working 72 hours a week to do it.

Depends on his overall work schedule. A lot of the guys working oilfields and such aren't working 72-80 hour weeks year round, they will work a given duration with a high amount of hours to get a project done and then take time off between jobs. Some of the rig welders I know take anywhere from several weeks to a few months off per year, it's not a 9 to 5 job by any means.

Also the field of welding covers everything from a $10/hr production Mig welder in a factory to high paying jobs like pipe welding in the field or welding special alloys. It's all about skill and experience range.

I know I looked at local cop jobs in 2011 before taking my current job, around here you are lucky to start at 30K

I haven't heard of a flyover country police job that starts much more than around 30k. Same goes for fire.

Hell airline pilots make a shockingly low amount of money (the general public thinks all airline pilots make bank...not so much)

[Jamisjockey]

Some of the jobs they listed (like the bartender) are heavily dependent on location, such as in a major city, where the cost of living quickly soaks up the higher pay level.

Some of the others are very varied on the salary.

Depends on his overall work schedule. A lot of the guys working oilfields and such aren't working 72-80 hour weeks year round, they will work a given duration with a high amount of hours to get a project done and then take time off between jobs. Some of the rig welders I know take anywhere from several weeks to a few months off per year, it's not a 9 to 5 job by any means.

Also the field of welding covers everything from a $10/hr production Mig welder in a factory to high paying jobs like pipe welding in the field or welding special alloys. It's all about skill and experience range.

I haven't heard of a flyover country police job that starts much more than around 30k. Same goes for fire.

Hell airline pilots make a shockingly low amount of money (the general public thinks all airline pilots make bank...not so much)

That, and some of the oil field stuff is a week to ten days on working like 12 hour days and then close to the same amount of time off. 

[charby]

If I wanted to start again I'd look at being an electrician. I'd like to work in an industrial enviro like our electricians, the less homeowners, the better.

If I can go back and talk to my 20 year old self, that is what I would do.

Journeyman electricians where I live with normal amounts of overtime make close to $100k per year.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

A good drywall guy can make that here if he gets in the custom home circuit


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[Boomhauer]

A good drywall guy can make that here if he gets in the custom home circuit


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I hate drywall work...that's well earned money right there.

[lupinus]

Drywall sucks.

[just Warren]

Welfare bureaucrats hate this one weird trick!

[Boomhauer]

Welfare bureaucrats hate this one weird trick!

 

[French G.]

A good drywall guy can make that here if he gets in the custom home circuit


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I'm thinking that is money for the guy who has been at it 20 years and that all the contractors call. My old FIL did custom home repair and never did charge what he was worth. He was very good, but drywall was just a side thing. The guy that fixed the lath and horsehair plaster at my old place in the city could charge whatever he wanted, but then again he was the only one in the city who did it. how can someone drink so much and be so good?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

My two good guys had to make that much for their meth.
I am a good finisher. Hate the work and am getting too old. The Latino drywall guys are driving down the price here


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[Jamisjockey]

If I can go back and talk to my 20 year old self, that is what I would do.

Journeyman electricians where I live with normal amounts of overtime make close to $100k per year.

20 year old me, I'd convince to learn to weld and become dive certified.  By now I'd hopefully be running my own outfit.  Met a guy at the marina who does this.  His fishing boat is worth more than my house....

[Perd Hapley]

I hate drywall work...

So do I. What makes it worse, is that I'm no good at it. And guess who just had to rip out the ceiling in the spare bedroom?  (water damage)

[Viking]

20 year old me, I'd convince to learn to weld and become dive certified.  By now I'd hopefully be running my own outfit.  Met a guy at the marina who does this.  His fishing boat is worth more than my house....

I've been considering this actually.

[MechAg94]

A relatives father in law used to do underwater welding.  For health reasons, he ended up quitting and becoming a high voltage electrician.

A lot of older welders and pipe fitters become maintenance planners and supervisors and can make decent money.  My dad did a lot of welding with his job, but his eyes couldn't take it later in life.  Specialty metal welders and pipeline welders can make good money, but the skills and work are demanding.

I know a couple of process controls specialists that make really good money.  I think they both started doing signal wiring and such and migrated into PLC programming.  It is hard to find really good instrument techs and controls specialists who know that side of things and have the experience.  

A lot of the chemical plant jobs involve a bit of travel and working when the customers call.  A company job at a single plant eliminates the travel, but not the hours.  It varies.  

[Calumus]

I'd be telling 20 year old me to join a fire dept. in a decent town in north eastern NJ. Two of my buddies are within 3 years of retirement, and the older of the two is 44. They'll both be forced to struggle trying to live on their pensions of just over $140k...

[Jamisjockey]

A relatives father in law used to do underwater welding.  For health reasons, he ended up quitting and becoming a high voltage electrician.

A lot of older welders and pipe fitters become maintenance planners and supervisors and can make decent money.  My dad did a lot of welding with his job, but his eyes couldn't take it later in life.  Specialty metal welders and pipeline welders can make good money, but the skills and work are demanding.

I know a couple of process controls specialists that make really good money.  I think they both started doing signal wiring and such and migrated into PLC programming.  It is hard to find really good instrument techs and controls specialists who know that side of things and have the experience.  

A lot of the chemical plant jobs involve a bit of travel and working when the customers call.  A company job at a single plant eliminates the travel, but not the hours.  It varies.  

It's one of those things that if you put in your time, and then build a small business around it, you can whore out your employees and make money hand over fist in the gulf. 

[Ron]

I suspect there are a few guys I know from my days in commercial HVAC who are making a 100k some years. 7-8 years ago I was pulling in over 80k.

Problem for me was I didn't transition into the controls aspect of my field soon enough and was burned out and sick of the industry by the time I started becoming proficient enough to be marketable in that niche.

My plan was to take some time off for my backpacking trips then get hired on with a new shop. Once I was away for a few months I never looked back.

I miss the money, that's about all though. 

[MechAg94]

It's one of those things that if you put in your time, and then build a small business around it, you can whore out your employees and make money hand over fist in the gulf. 

Yeah, there are a lot of rich small business people along the gulf coast. 

[Monkeyleg]

I suspect there are a few guys I know from my days in commercial HVAC who are making a 100k some years. 7-8 years ago I was pulling in over 80k.

Problem for me was I didn't transition into the controls aspect of my field soon enough and was burned out and sick of the industry by the time I started becoming proficient enough to be marketable in that niche.

My plan was to take some time off for my backpacking trips then get hired on with a new shop. Once I was away for a few months I never looked back.

I miss the money, that's about all though. 

My ex-BIL runs an HVAC/plumbing company. His guys make about $80K, and his cost for each with pension and other bennies is $120K a year.

[Balog]

Pipe fitters, elevator techs, diesel generator repairmen all pull that easily. The rest is more location dependent.

[Boomhauer]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-blue-collar-jobs-that-pay-100000-a-year-2015-01-08?reflink=MW_GoogleNews&google_editors_picks=true

I also read the WSJ article linked there about the 24 year old making $ 140K/year as a welder.  However, he is working 72 hours a week to do it.

I wanted to add some more thoughts to this...

I hate these articles. They are often misleading. The articles you constantly see on the news sites about "What are the top paying jobs" and such are annoying, they never go into any real detail, they tend to focus on "median" incomes and such statistics that do not really apply when it comes time to train and apply for the job.

The best thing is to heavily research careers before you make a leap and don't rely on "ABC article says that there is a shortage of "X" jobs and I can get paid highly to do it!" then drop a couple of years in your local community college, all the while listening to recruiters and such claim the same things as the news articles and find out that the only jobs you can get at first are paying much lower.

Don't get me wrong there are plenty of well paying jobs out there. Just disregard the news articles, because they are often fairly inaccurate. I've just seen people suckered in by the thoughts of quickly making a lot of dough and then when it takes a few years to get to that level in real life, get discouraged easily.

A good example is you've got a lot of people paying a huge amount of money to that ripoff UTI to become diesel mechanics and then finding out they are going to be making $12-15/hr upon graduation and spend a year or so as the lube bitch while they make their bones and learn how the real world works.

[Stand_watie]

A relatives father in law used to do underwater welding.  For health reasons, he ended up quitting and becoming a high voltage electrician.

A lot of older welders and pipe fitters become maintenance planners and supervisors and can make decent money.  My dad did a lot of welding with his job, but his eyes couldn't take it later in life.  Specialty metal welders and pipeline welders can make good money, but the skills and work are demanding.

I know a couple of process controls specialists that make really good money.  I think they both started doing signal wiring and such and migrated into PLC programming.  It is hard to find really good instrument techs and controls specialists who know that side of things and have the experience.  

A lot of the chemical plant jobs involve a bit of travel and working when the customers call.  A company job at a single plant eliminates the travel, but not the hours.  It varies.  

The hourly chemical plant operator jobs can be decent money,  particularly in the big companies and in the industry hotspots like the gulf coast chemical corridor. Shift schedules tend to suck heavily though.

[charby]

20 year old me, I'd convince to learn to weld and become dive certified.  By now I'd hopefully be running my own outfit.  Met a guy at the marina who does this.  His fishing boat is worth more than my house....

For every high paying welding job there are probably 75 that pay less than $15 an hour. I used to be a welder, the lack of any jobs over $10 ( I was making $8.50) in 1992/1993 sealed my decision to go the university. The factory I worked at would have me weld specialty parts, repair what the line guys screwed up and I would also fill in as a machinist when I wasn't needed. Not too bad of responsibilities of a 19 year old. If they moved me over to the blueprint/fixture area I probably would have stayed.

My father is a retired electrician and at the time being an electrician for a career was looking pretty horrid. Most shops were over staffed and so was the locals.