What Are The Most Lucrative Trades?

With college tuition skyrocketing, many young people are looking to trade or vocational school as a lucrative alternative to a four-year degree. But which trades offer the most bang for your buck?

Two Cents on Twitter: @twocentspbs

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Two Cents was created by Katie Graham, Andrew Matthews, Philip Olson CFP® and Julia Lorenz-Olson and is brought to you by PBS Digital Studios. We love dropping some knowledge on all things personal finance and helping you make better money decisions.

Two Cents is hosted by Philip Olson, CFP® and Julia Lorenz-Olson
Directors: Katie Graham & Andrew Matthews
Written by: Julia Lorenz-Olson & Andrew Matthews
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Produced by: Katie Graham
Edited & Animated by: Derek Borsheim
Images by: Shutterstock
Music by: APM

SOURCES:

Bureau of Labor Statistics

[ProPopulo]

We're all laughing at the "dumb" trade kids untill they charge $150/hr to fix your air conditioner.

[EppingForest]

Choose a job/career that can't be outsourced... that's the most useful takeaway from this video! 😁

[Will-jgzs]

I am 23 and a truck driver (local) only took three months to get my CDL and I started off at 60k per year. **With no debt too**

Trade schools are pretty sweet. I wish Teachers/Counselors would talk more about them instead of thinking that a kid only has two options, 4yr degree or Military.

[YeetxBoi]

So basically, the most lucrative trade is running a college.

[JamesMaharajOfficial]

This is seriously the best channel on Youtube; especially for millennials. You guys and your team are outstanding.

[ChrisInvests]

Trade jobs are seriously underrated. With many of them you also have the choice of working for someone else or starting your own business 👍

[AmberlyPerez]

I LOVE that you said the average person changes careers 3-7 times. I was an optician, now I am a real estate agent and I’ve been considering going to school for nursing. I was struggling with that idea because I felt like I was supposed to pick a career and stick with it, but your statistic made me breathe a sigh of relief knowing I am “average” 🤗🤗🤗

[josecontreras]

Most community colleges offer these same trades. Community colleges are way cheaper than vocational schools and offer federal and state aid. I'm a surveyor in California and am studying civil engineering. Basically got my career paid for. I got my two Associate degrees for free and will only pay for my remaining 2 years at CSU-LA. 👍 I recommend doing a bit of research before going to vocational school.

[Mac-zegu]

I went to culinary school, I’m a private chef and make over 6 figures. I got lucky because most people I know that went to culinary school, is no longer in the industry

[DirtyDadJokes]

“Leadership, communication, analytical skills...”

Which most 4 year degrees don’t actually teach...

[HouseofCastro]

I’m a hairstylist. I make 80K after expenses. ( never under estimate the salon peeps. We have a blast and bank on it) 😘

[DA-bmmj]

@01:15 may we just appreciate how they just listed all the 10 jobs right away (very well done!), not stretching them out for the entire video's length, as usually done by other channels.
I'm looking at you, The Financial Diet (TFD)

[jc]

Today job market is over saturated with college degrees, requiring Master degrees to go further, even doctorates. But people forget about trades, which can give you the chance to start a business. It's not fancy, but it's always needed.

[jamia]

I got an English degree, tried to find a job paying more than $15/hr for a few years, and then went back and finished ultrasound school. Best career decision ever... now I can finally pay for my English degree.

[TheMoep]

I have to say I’m glad that I live in Germany where I did a two and a half year apprenticeship in a company. I didn’t have to pay tuition for vocational school and I actually earned money while learning and gaining work experience. Now that I’ve finished I was able to keep working there, earning more money than any of my friends who are still in college. I will be able to earn my bachelors degree while still working and gaining experience. Even though I will have to pay tuition for that I can still afford to live on my own in a big flat, with a new car and no debt.
I wish more countries would have this system, so far fewer young people would start into adulthood with a huge amount of debt.

[ChrisDAndrealifestyledesign]

It feels like high schools loves to force the path of 4 year college down soon-to-be graduates throats, without providing any other alternative paths.

Thank you for providing all of us valuable information and financial tools that many educational institutions and guidance counselors aren’t. You guys are the best!

[discusboy]

I was one of the millions of high schoolers preached to about the necessity of college. Began college in 2007 studying sociology with the goal of becoming a cop. With the recession, most police forces went through long hiring furloughs. I decided I had to figure out another path. Went to trade school for refinery operations and got hired before graduating (so technically I still just have a high school diploma). This decision changed my life. Started making great money, became a volunteer firefighter and now fire instructor at the refinery. Best thing I could have done.

[anniealexander]

My brother is a heavy equipment operator with a salary of $1800 a week. He quit school in the 9th grade and learned his trade in prison. Now he is married with 2 teenage daughters. He really turned his life around.

[sionv]

yall are giving advice that I wish I'd heard 10 years ago tbh

[AlexS-ojqf]

The problem with our education system is that everyone is pushed into thinking that Universities are the only option to have a succesful life, and almost everyone sign up for university after high school. With so many university graduate, the value of having a degree diminished, it only benefitted employer, since there's flood of educated workers available, they get to exploit because literally everyone is expendable nowadays. Also with a lot of qualified worker, we are being pushed to be "perfect" before we sign up for jobs, which means we tend to be overqualified and overeducated, and since companies require different sets of skills, we have to learn a lot of things before being cobsidered as a desirable candidate. In the past companies would provide training so their worker would be able to learn exactly what they need, now workers are expected to already master the required skills. The whole midset resulted in a very broken workplace system and the chain reaction affected everything. It's time to change. We should stop glorifying universities and respect more vocational education. Learn from Japan or Germany, they have a very good and very structured system that ensure even lowly workers such as plumbers to be able to prosper.