Are you looking for a high paying job that you will also enjoy? Recently I asked a group of people if they could tell me what their career was, what their salary was and their overall happiness with their job. I’ve narrowed it down to 20 enjoyable careers that make over 75k.
If you are looking for a “get rich quick” career list, this won’t be it. (Send me a link if you find one!) Most of these careers require higher education, but that education has paid off in both money and happiness for these people.
Here are 20 enjoyable careers that make over 75k that made the list:
1.) Nursing
There was a TON of nurses that claimed to love their job and make great money. I personally know a few nurses and I can testify that nurses have their own special thing going on with each other.
If you like helping people, then this might be your calling. There were nurses that claimed incomes up to 130k. With a simple Google search, you can discover several areas of healthcare where nurses are needed.
2.) Dental Hygienist
I have never met a dental hygienist that was miserable. One Dental Hygienist claimed to make over 100k as a traveling hygienist, working only 2-3 days a week.
3.) Building Plans Examiner
This person is usually responsible for the administration, review, and coordination of submitted building plans for building permits. The person recommending this job states that you can get a job like this studying coding and passing a B3 exam. Experience in construction is also a perk in applying.
4.) Paralegal
Paralegals assist attorneys in preparing for trials, hearings, and closings. The average income for a paralegal actually falls below 75k, but people have reported over 75k with additional education and experience.
5.) Corporate Bond Trader
There are few jobs that sound as spicy as a Corporate Bond Trader. Some duties include selling securities to individuals, advising companies searching for investors, and making trades. A good trader can make a 6 figure income.
6.) Corporate Trainer
The guy that held this job said that he creates a digital learning experience for employees through instructional design and eLearning. He reported an income over 75k and payscale.com reports incomes as high as 80k.
7.) Dog Walker
I had to add this one in here because the idea is dreamy. Obviously, this wouldn’t be a 75k salary for most dog walkers. But I can’t leave out my big city virtual friends though. One big city dog walker reported that she charges 50-60 dollars an hour to walk people’s dogs and could certainly make over 100k.
8.)Physical Therapist
PT’s love their jobs and I have never seen one that was out of shape either. The average salary for a PT is over $86,000. PT’s have assistants too, and I am incredibly thankful to my PT & PTAs for healing me when I was broken!
9.) Information Systems and Technology.
This area can be defined as the study, design, execution, support and/or the management of computer-based information systems. That’s quite a mouthful. Like all careers, salaries tend to range but a health services ITS specialist has a reported salary of $78,000 a year.
10.) Industrial Engineer
Industrial Engineers try to find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. The median income currently reported is $83,470.
11.)Marketing and Distribution Analyst
These people create system solutions for business functionality. Reported salaries range greatly.
12.) School Psychologist
As a school psychologist, you will help students process their problems and plan goals and actions. You will also meet with parents to discuss the issues. The median salary is about $81,000
13.) UX Designer
A User Experience (UX) designer enhances user satisfaction by improving usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided with interaction with the product (according to my friend, Wikipedia.) If you are creative, this might be a job to consider. Glassdoor has an average income sitting at $80,928 a year.
14.) Federal Government Employee
One person on my original posting reported that he buys helicopters for the military. Insert jaw-dropping face. What a cool job. He worked his way up as a paid intern. Look around at federal jobs that you might be interested in, especially if you happen to be a veteran.
15.) Defense Contractor
This was another government job recommended. These people provide products or services to the military or intelligence department of a government.
16.) Automotive Sales
I was surprised by how many automotive sales associates spoke up about making over 75k. I would imagine the salary greatly varies by how hard you hustle. The pros of this job were that you don’t need experience or higher education to get an entry-level job.
17.) Occupational Therapist
Occupational Therapists (OT) are similar to a Physical Therapist, however, they focus on improving a client’s ability to perform activities of daily living. Traveling OT’s are in high demand in my area. I was in need of one to come to my home before and I had to wait over three months to work with the OT! As a traveling OT, you can make over 100k.
18.) Psychotherapist
One psychotherapist reports working in a hospital psych ward as “always interesting.” Ha. I believe it. Psychotherapists help people change their behavior and overcome problems. The average salary is around 76k.
19.) Accounting
Several accounting jobs were mentioned by people. The highest paying jobs seem to be running your own accounting office or working in healthcare finance.
20.) Blue Collar Industries
Let’s talk about this a little. Because most people are now going to college, blue-collar businesses are becoming few and far. This is a great thing for the industry. Some blue-collar business jobs include mechanic, electrician, welder, plumber, contractor and more. In my area, finding a good blue-collar worker is hard. We hired a new “contractor” to redo our floors, and he left it a hot mess. We ended up firing him and called 15 other contractors. Only 2 of the 15 called back and only one of them showed up. I had to wait 3 weeks until that one person was able to come out. Believe me that he came out, he knew his value and he named his price with us. By going off of what he charged us, he probably brings in $180,000 a year, no joke.
When we became homeowners and knew nothing about plumbing, we called a plumber when our sink didn’t work. To my embarrassment, all he had to do was change the screen under the faucet. It took him a minute to do that and he charged me $80.00.
Seriously consider running a blue-collar business if you want to make serious income. (But don’t be a crook like that plumber.)
Inspired?
I hope you have some ideas conjuring up in your head. Sure, not all of the careers average a national salary of over 75k, but if there are people out there making over the average salary then you can too!
Remember, happiness should always come first in your career. If you enjoy what you do, then you’re not really working. Also, remember that money doesn’t buy happiness, but as Chris Janson sings, “But it could buy me a boat, it could buy me a truck to pull it…”
Do you have an enjoyable career that makes over 75k that isn’t listed? Let me know!
Also, if you are a homeowner drowning in debt, I’d like to invite you to read From Food Banks to Paying off Over 100k if Debt.