16 Best Careers If You Have No Education

Not everyone is as fortunate to get an education, but regardless of the reasons that led to this, it’s important to find a job to be able to support oneself, such as these 16 best careers if you have no education.

If you have no education, it’s important that you take a few steps before picking a career you might be interested in, because having no diplomas doesn’t mean in any way that you should not be able to find work, and good-paying work, that is. And if you are looking for jobs that will give you more freedom than usual “nine to five” jobs, take a look at these 15 best careers if you want to travel the world. 

First, you need to identify the skills you have and what you’d like to do and the types of jobs that require skills like the ones you have yourself. Then, you have to make sure you apply left and right for jobs you’d be good for and do your best to convince the employer that you are the best fit for the job they have open.

For today’s list, we took a look at the US Bureau of Labor and used its data to figure out just which of the jobs available for those without a high school education are the best paid. Without further ado, here are the 16 best careers if you have no education.

16. Plasterers and stucco masons

Median pay for 2015 – $37,320

Among the jobs that fit this description, there are those such as dry plasterer, journey level plasterer, stucco worker, swimming pool plasterer and more. Basically, people working this job apply plasters and stucco to ceilings, walls, and other areas, depending on people’s needs. This is physical work, and it’s quite demanding since it involves a lot of heavy lifting, but if you enjoy it, that’s all that matters.

15. Cement masons and concrete finishers

Median pay for 2015 – $37,740

Among the jobs that fit under this category are cement mason, patcher, finisher or floor installer, as well as concrete floor installer, mason, smoother and even concrete swimming pool installer. Their jobs are to install and finish concrete, whether that means making beams, plates or columns made out of concrete or decorative details. Others, working similar jobs then add finishing touches completely smoothing the surface. There are so many places where these jobs are needed that if you learn this trade, you’re pretty much set on any construction site.

14. Pipelayers

Median pay for 2015 – $37,780

Under this category that’s up next in our list of best careers if you have no education, there are several types of job, including cast-iron drain pipe layer, pipe layer, sewer pipe layer, trench pipe layer and water main pipe layer. These skilled tradesmen are essential in many areas, including the building and repairing of storm sewers, sanitary sewers, all types of drains and water mains.

13. Drywall and ceiling tile installers

Median pay for 2015 – $39,220

This category ranks 13th in our list of best careers if you have no education and includes plenty of jobs, including drywall applicator, finisher, hanger, installer, sander, stripper, as well as sheetrock applier, hanger and installer, to name a few. This is the kind of job you learn on site, and you only get better with time. You’d have to apply plasterboard, or other types of wallboards to ceilings or interior walls, acoustical tiles or blocks and other types of materials to rooms that need to reduce or reflect sound.

12.Tile and marble setters

Median pay for 2015 – $39,400

There are many jobs that fall under this category, including ceramic tile installer, hard tile setter, marble ceiling installer, tile mason, and many more. Job duties include cleaning and leveling the surface that needs to be tiled, measuring and cutting tiles and marble, arranging them and so on. This is the type of job that’s needed on all construction sites, be it private properties or business establishments, so there are plenty of jobs out there.

11. Sailors and marine oilers

Median pay for 2015 – $41,260

And here we go to another range of jobs, jobs that will put you at sea this time around. We’re talking about seamen, deck cadets, deck hands, merchant seamen, sailors and more. People working these jobs have to stand watch and make sure there are no obstructions in the chosen path, to measure water depth, use emergency equipment, follow directions from those outranking them without batting an eye, especially in dire situations.

10. Hoist and winch operators

Median pay for 2015 – $42,220

A few jobs fall under this category, such as hoist operator, winch derrick operator, and winch operator. These jobs are pretty straightforward and given the name of the category it’s pretty easy to figure out that those working these jobs involve operating or tending to hoists or winches to pull loads by using heavy machinery.

9. Athletes and sports competitors

Median pay for 2015 – $44,680

This is such a wide category, including athletes, baseball players, basketball players, cyclists, bowlers, ice skaters, jockeys and so on and so forth. Although the median pay for 2015 of $44,680 may seem small, you should take into consideration that we’re not talking about top level players here, necessarily. They compete in athletic events and have the opportunity to grow quite a bit, but it takes a lot of hard work.

8. Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining

Median pay for 2015 – $45,000

Quite a few jobs belong to this category, including oil well fishing-tool technicians, well service pump equipment operators, well service rig operators and well-servicing rig operators. While working these jobs you have to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools and other obstructions, to make sure the air flow is constant.

7. Derrick operators oil and gas

Median pay for 2015 – $47,910

This category of jobs ranks 7th in our list of best careers if you have no education. It includes derrick operators, gas and oil derrick operators, rotary derrick operator and more. These are important jobs to have since they operate pumps to circulate mud through the drill holes.

6. Tapers

Median pay for 2015 – $47,970

Under this category, there are several jobs, including drywall taper, sheetrock taper, and wall taper. Among the job tasks, there’s spreading sealing compound between boards or panels, and so on, pressing paper tape over joints to embed tape into sealing compound and more.

5. Continuous mining machine operators

Median pay – $48,620

This category ranks 5th in our list of best careers if you have no education. It involves a handful of jobs, including continuous mining machine coal and lode miners and self-propelled mining machine operators. These people operate self-propelled machines that rip coal, metal, and other ores, stone, rocks and sand, from the mine.

4. Loading machine operators, underground mining

Median pay for 2015 – $52,320

This category ranks 4th in our list of best careers if you have no education. It includes a few jobs such as coke loader, joy loader, and load haul dump operator. These people work underground too, operating loading machines that load coal, ore, and rock into shuttle or mine cars.

3. Rotary drill operators, oil and gas

Median pay for 2015 – $54,310

There are quite a few jobs in this category, including oil driller, oil rig driller, prospecting driller and more. While on the job, workers set up and operate a variety of drills used to remove underground oil and gas, as well as the core samples for testing during oil and gas exploration.

2. Mine shuttle car operators

Median pay for 2015 – $55,320

It’s pretty easy to figure out what you have to do as a mine shuttle car operator. To make sure, however, they operate diesel or electric powered shuttle cars in the mine to transport materials from working face to mine or conveyors.

1. Artists and related workers

Median pay for 2015 – $58,450

There are quite a few jobs that fit here, including those of calligrapher and tattoo artist. If you have an artistic inclination, then this is obviously something you could be doing. Obviously, having some kind of training will get you further in your passion, but the talent is what it’s all based on here.

With that being said, these are the 16 best careers if you have no education.