Best-Paying Jobs for High School Graduates, Ranked by 2025 BLS Wages
- BLS lists 300 detailed occupations where the typical entry credential is “high school diploma or equivalent.” 141 of them have a U.S. median wage at or above the all-jobs median of $50,980.
- The best-paid is nuclear power reactor operators, at a median of $122,890 in May 2025.
- The job in this group with the most projected openings each year is home health and personal care aides, with about 760,500 openings a year through 2035.
This list covers jobs that typically need a high school diploma. It combines the government’s May 2025 wage survey (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025) with the education level BLS says is typical for entry and its 10-year employment outlook (BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35). “Typical” means what most new workers have when they start; some people in each job have more or less schooling.
The 15 highest-paying jobs that typically need a high school diploma
Occupations with at least 5,000 U.S. jobs, ranked by median annual wage. Growth is the BLS projection for 2025–35.
| Occupation | U.S. median | Jobs | Growth 2025–35 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operators | $122,890 | 5,150 | -5.9% |
| Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers | $109,910 | 23,790 | +5.7% |
| Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $107,230 | 221,180 | +6.1% |
| Power Distributors and Dispatchers | $106,730 | 8,520 | +1.2% |
| First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $106,040 | 154,610 | +3.3% |
| Power Plant Operators | $102,040 | 29,320 | -5.1% |
| Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers | $96,710 | 33,160 | -1.9% |
| Postmasters and Mail Superintendents | $96,660 | 13,810 | -0.3% |
| Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers | $95,320 | 131,070 | +10.3% |
| Detectives and Criminal Investigators | $93,790 | 114,430 | +0.2% |
| Gambling Managers | $93,220 | 5,030 | +3.6% |
| Signal and Track Switch Repairers | $92,460 | 8,720 | +1.8% |
| Transportation Inspectors | $92,100 | 24,500 | +2.2% |
| Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers | $89,900 | 6,500 | -3.4% |
| Gas Plant Operators | $87,820 | 18,030 | -6.0% |
Above-median pay and the fastest growth
Of the jobs in this group that pay at least the all-jobs median, these are projected to grow fastest. For comparison, BLS projects total U.S. employment to grow 3.5% over the decade.
| Occupation | U.S. median | Jobs | Growth 2025–35 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Photovoltaic Installers | $53,140 | 31,350 | +36.5% |
| Hearing Aid Specialists | $65,160 | 11,270 | +19.4% |
| Occupational Health and Safety Technicians | $61,560 | 30,590 | +19.4% |
| Industrial Machinery Mechanics | $64,520 | 439,640 | +17.8% |
| Community Health Workers | $51,850 | 61,660 | +12.7% |
| Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians | $56,550 | 37,870 | +10.7% |
| Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers | $95,320 | 131,070 | +10.3% |
| Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians | $52,000 | 17,430 | +9.7% |
| Electricians | $63,190 | 757,220 | +9.2% |
| Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors | $58,170 | 9,760 | +9.2% |
Where the openings are
Openings include new jobs plus replacements for workers who retire or change careers, so even slow-growing jobs can hire a lot. Average annual openings, 2025–35:
| Occupation | Openings per year | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 760,500 | $35,800 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 289,500 | $44,770 |
| Office Clerks, General | 249,000 | $45,010 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | 171,500 | $44,080 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 163,900 | $47,540 |
| Security Guards | 156,000 | $38,020 |
| Childcare Workers | 150,300 | $34,980 |
| Maintenance and Repair Workers, General | 148,700 | $49,590 |
What this means for you
- The median job in this group pays $50,150 (the middle value of the 300 occupation medians).
- Pay spreads are wide. Each wage above is a midpoint; click any occupation for its full 10th-to-90th percentile range and its best-paying states.
- Training matters too. Many of these jobs also require on-the-job training, an apprenticeship or a license on top of the entry credential.
Published October 27, 2026. Sources are linked in the text.
Header image: original chart by JobPayRaise.com using BLS OEWS May 2025 data.
Comments (1)
A related data point from a different BLS survey: full-time workers age 25 and over whose highest education was a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $966 in 2025 and an unemployment rate of 4.3%, compared with $1,268 and 3.4% for all workers. Source: BLS “Education pays” table (Current Population Survey, 2025).