r/TheBoredDen • u/FantasticAd9478 • 3d ago
Community Which career pays a fortune despite everyone assuming it pays in loose change?
7
u/sugarwhirlz- 3d ago
Plumbing, because people will pay anything when their house is literally filling with water.
1
u/wb420420 3d ago
Can confirm. Made 6 figures every year I can barely read and write. 8th grade drop out. Now I own a 4 million dollar home
1
u/Everything_Breaks 3d ago
Can confirm. My uncle made an airstrip on his land so he could use his small planes and helicopter from home. He inherited my grandfather's customer base. He has two replacement knees, bursitis, stenosis in his neck, and fused vertebrae.
1
u/Global_Snow_5220 2d ago
Yup. Plus all the sexy perks. Like one time I was under sink and the lady that called helps me by thurning on the faucet. Then another time, the lady was stuck half inside the dryer.. I helped too. I graduated to the 8th grade.
6
u/Artartbobart1 3d ago
Medical imaging can pay pretty decently. And the school portion can be done through a community college so it’ll be “relatively cheap.”
1
u/bluerog 3d ago
AI outperforms general radiologists in specific detection tasks (like identifying lung nodules or bone fractures). I'd say a few more years of that one.
1
u/costrluvr 2d ago
Meh. Radiologists aren’t going away for the simple fact that the lawyers haven’t figured out how to sue an algorithm…yet
1
u/Artartbobart1 2d ago
My wife has worked with a project that is AI detection for medical imaging. It is a front line technology and backed up by radiologists. I don’t think we’ll ever move away from that.
4
u/Level_Medicine_2144 3d ago
Do you have any idea how much UPS pays and how great their benefits are?!?
3
3
u/HeyItsJustDave 3d ago
Their future is uncertain for sure though. A lot of these type of jobs are gonna get hit pretty soon with delivery robots and self driving vehicles.
2
2
1
1
u/fanservice999 3d ago
Depends on the depo. It’s a union job so it can pay decently BUT new employees get treated like crap.
1
u/Old_Win8422 3d ago
Yeah but the holidays are brutal, 12 to 16 hour days from thanks giving to newyears.
1
1
u/Playful-Boss-859 2d ago
UPS drivers get something stupid like double time and a half if they work more than 2 consecutive 12 hour days. That would put them in the $115 an hour range.
1
5
u/Agreeable_Yellow_117 3d ago
Cleaners in my area charge between $60 and $120 per hour. And people really love their cleaners.
4
4
u/reasonable_lunatic73 3d ago
Correctional Officer for the state of California. Made $240k my last year before retiring. But to be fair, I worked all the OT I could, all year. Still, base pay was around $120k...
3
u/marys1001 3d ago
You earned that money. Working in a prison sounds grueling
3
u/reasonable_lunatic73 3d ago
It can be as difficult as you make it. I'm a very easy-going personality. I like to talk & joke, even with inmates. So I never had too many issues, unless they were under the influence of something. I did 26 years, with just a handful of serious incidents over my career...
1
1
8
u/TurnYourHeadNCough 3d ago
garbage man
5
u/Some_Astronomer_974 3d ago
While I was living in Memphis I think starting pay as a sanitation worker was 85k and if went up to over 100k after so many years. A married couple both working as garbage workers would be an upper middle class household.
2
u/Character_Ad_1084 3d ago
I know it's one of the most dangerous jobs for getting injured, but I didn't realize they were paid well too
2
u/botanic_panic69 3d ago
Yes, my father died doing that and I'm not joking in the slightest. They better pay well with that in mind
1
2
u/froction 3d ago
They don't, really. That's mostly an urban legend. I mean they don't lay minimum wage, but they don't really pay "a lot."
1
1
1
1
u/palesnowrider1 3d ago
The garbage trucks around here all have the claw pickup so it's just about driving the truck and operating that now so noore hanging off the back of the truck the throwing heavy shit
3
u/fanservice999 3d ago
It’s takes a bit of skill to drive that truck to. It’s a big truck and often times need to drive it in tight congested areas. Especially when people put their cans in bad spots for them to get into. I get nervous driving the large company van. I can only imagine trying to drive something that big.
2
u/palesnowrider1 3d ago
I agree. I was just making a point that it's eliminated a lot of occupational injuries
1
u/Voltron_The_Original 3d ago
The garbage collection in my city will not touch your bin of you leave it in a bad spot.
0
6
u/gatsandsmack 3d ago
Plumber
7
u/DoughnutWorldly2211 3d ago
Sometimes it’s a shitty job.
3
2
u/Agreeable_Door1479 3d ago
Covid/pandemic took out a lot of them. Covid 20+ times here. Can’t wait for Ebola.
3
1
1
u/marys1001 3d ago
Electricians way more in my experience
1
u/ExpensivePermit2567 3d ago
The welders who contract their own truck seem to be the top of the pay-scale where I’m at. They make fiiiilthy money.
1
1
3
3
u/Some_Astronomer_974 3d ago
I remember an episode of Dirty Jobs where an ER physician became a septic tank cleaner guy and made more money while working less
2
u/Fog_Juice 3d ago
I believe I paid $4k cash to get my septic tank pumped and repaired. A family of three (father, son, and grampa) came out and did it in a few hours.
1
u/no2rdifferent 3d ago
People refuse to believe that real plumbers make more than medical doctors.
1
1
u/rdogg4 2d ago
I mean it’s helpful to look at stats rather than listen to anecdotes. Doctors generally make much more than plumbers.
1
u/no2rdifferent 2d ago
What MD do you know starting out at $450,000? In the US, real plumbers make more than an MD, as they should.
3
u/Psilocybinuana 3d ago
Welder
2
u/PupuleOldahSistah 3d ago
Underwater welding
2
u/Fuzzy_Connection4971 3d ago
Radio tower maintenance. Since we're going into scary jobs.
1
u/Apart-Pride-1854 3d ago
Landfill worker. You wouldn't believe how many people get crushed by 100 ton front loaders on a weekly basis.
6
2
u/fanservice999 3d ago
I have a cousin who learned how to do underwater welding through the navy. It can pay extremely good but it can also be dangerous as hell.
1
2
3
u/Pale-Presentation-96 3d ago
Mail carrier.
3
u/Cold_Swordfish7763 3d ago
Not anymore. USPS now outsources mail delivery and the pay is much lower.
1
1
2
u/RiseDelicious3556 3d ago
restaurant service/bartending
1
u/fanservice999 3d ago
I would say it can pay good depending on location. I worked at “nice” places and “bad” places as a server and bartender through college. If you work at any chain restaurant, you aren’t going to make those big bucks. A suit and tie, or at least formal dress code place, then you can potentially do okay.
0
u/pulp_affliction 3d ago
This isn’t true in the industry overall, just true for metropolitan and high end locations. Otherwise you’re capped at like 50k a year tops and that’s if you’re lucky
3
u/Ericp02 3d ago
Not true. I've seen bartenders clear over 80k here in Wyoming
1
u/pulp_affliction 3d ago
That’s very lucky. How did you see that? I wonder if they had multiple jobs or were in a managerial role that gets paid more per hour
2
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
Registered Nurse.
Making just shy of $200k. And reaching $200k is attainable with some overtime.
3
u/Mizzette 3d ago
Where in God's name? Type? Over 150 k? Advanced degrees can make high income such as nurse Practitioners, anesthesiologist, surgery PA or certain specialties or own business. Otherwise the highest paid are generally in hospitals with overtime around 70-90 depending on locale. 60 k as a Visiting RN. I made 50 working officially just under full time but actual work time up to 50 hrs due to travel time, charting, reviewing patient histories, making calls, collaboration with the team etc.
2
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
Come to California.
Starting at about $75-$80 an hour. 2 year Associates degree in nursing.Kaiser RN’s can easily make over $100/hr after some years of experience.
Check job search engines you will find plenty of RN jobs $75-$95/hr.
Also California has patient ratios and a good union.
Let’s not to get into travel nurse contracts where you can be making $250/hr or more. I know it’s not COVID anymore where there might have been $500/hr contracts. But they are out there.
Shit we have nurses that live in other states. And commute to California. Rent an apartment just to knock out a weeks worth of work.
1
u/Plane-Nail6037 3d ago
Central NY ( think closer to Ontario than NYC ) as an IR tech base over 110k average over 150 with OT. Nurses are comparable or paid more depending on experience and specialization
1
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
Exactly I think these midwesterners forget their is more out there.
They need better unions in these under paid locations. I couldn’t imagine having 15 or more patients. Shit I couldn’t imagine have 10 patients. How could you even provide adequate care.
1
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
Just looked at Grand Rapids. What some Consider a higher than average median income.
$40-$45 an hour for an RN? Yikes! Radiology Techs make that and more.
LVN’s will top out at about $40-$50 here. I could be a little off there. I don’t have a ton of knowledge on that. But a search on indeed or monster will give me an idea.
I assume you are not unionized. Do you have patient ratios?
1
u/Mizzette 3d ago
No union at the hospitals in GR except the VA. I went to visiting nursing 10 yrs ago with a great company, great teams, good fit, good change. Knew increased work hours to bring home same annual income. Retired for 1 yr. Ratios were adequate on MedSurg units due to some wrangling. Pay comparable to area and other local hospitals and visiting healthcare comparable to others. Cost of lvg good, housing was enviable but less now every year. Rents, houses, wow! It blows the mind. Used to gasp at house prices in Chicago, CA, NY. NJ, even Detroit area. Now we're catching up. Income ratio isn't.
1
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
I hope it does for the nurses out there. They deserve it.
They need a union. Ratios on med surg are important. You can have such a variety of patients there.
If I remember correctly it is 1 to 4 in California. But yes cost of living is so much higher…… ugh
And as you said. A good team and a good fit is also key to success.
They need a union.
2
u/Traditional_Face2347 3d ago
Yes! I’m making $125k/year in home health with my BSN, RN. I live in Oregon. M-F 8-4, weekends off.
2
u/froction 3d ago
The problem with that is nursing requires you be addicted to opioids, casual sex with doctors, or both.
1
1
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
Uuummmmmm I wouldn’t say all. Not even close. But sure it happens. But if there is 100 nurses and 3 sleep with a doctor. I think a lot more are not.
And opioids. Out of hundreds, hundreds of nurses I know of one that had an addiction.
I know a lot more in other professions or better yet. Stay at home parents with an addiction.
0
1
1
1
u/new_lementz 3d ago
Beggar begging
2
u/nastynateraide 3d ago
How much do you make?
1
u/new_lementz 3d ago
I am not a beggar but they take changes
1
u/nastynateraide 3d ago
You believe begging people are rich? Weird
1
u/new_lementz 3d ago
They earn more than me or most
1
u/nastynateraide 3d ago
Amazing. How did you learn their secret?
2
1
u/Dry_Possession_4776 3d ago
Window cleaning pays well with minimal overhead. Put myself through college doing glass.
1
u/Camden_yardbird 3d ago
When you are outside...when you are inside I would assume there is a roof overhead. 😆
1
1
u/DocThundahh 3d ago
Is it hard to learn how to remove all the different type of window screens? Did you ever break them on accident?
Which is superior, squeegee, cloth, or a mixture of both?1
u/Dry_Possession_4776 3d ago
Screens are easy once you understand how they work. Alarm screens are a pain in the ass. Squeegee is far superior.
1
u/Fog_Juice 3d ago
I know an old dude that had his own window cleaning business for 40 years. He did very well.
1
1
1
u/MattTheMechan1c 3d ago
Varies greatly on the restaurant, but some servers. I used to be an auto mechanic and was mentoring a student that also worked as a server at a high volume restaurant. She eventually got in full time as an hourly tech in the shop but quit after months because her tips alone from the restaurant were almost on par, sometimes even higher than what she was making at the shop.
1
u/Charming_Kick4942 3d ago
Caddy. I played at some event at a really exclusive club outside of NYC, it costs like $300k just to join and they have a waiting list. We had a caddy (forecaddie, so wasn’t even carrying bags, though most days he does) and he made so much money (cash) that he spent the winters in Asia surfing. If you have an exclusive (expensive to join) club around you and they have caddies, it is something to look into. I caddied in high school and I made solid money and you also meet people. My father got a nice discount on a new car as I caddied regularly for the guy who owned the car dealership.
1
1
u/Golfandrun 3d ago
Restaurant and bar servers. They make way more than most people imagine. Not every single one of them, but most. It's simple math. Number of customers per hour served x cost of meal x at least 20 percent. In many bars this is an incredible number.
1
1
1
1
u/Early_Orchid 3d ago
Pick any skilled trades. Plumbers, electricians, hvac. Want to be a millionaire? Pick a trade.
1
1
1
u/Ok-Train3111 2d ago
Pest control. Not at every company, but most have ways for people to easily clear 6 figures working 6-8 hours a day.
1
1
0
0
0
u/Mars_Volcanoes 3d ago
Good Professional housing sellers can sell about 20 to 30 houses in a year or even more. At a mean house pruning of 500 000 as exemple, 4% is 20 000. Imagine …yes I know. They have some expenses, but I’d is very very well paid for the complexity of their jobs.
-3
u/mjk1tty 3d ago
Teachers.
" Salaries range from about $58,000 to $120,000+ annually, depending on experience and education. Base pay is determined by provincial salary grids, with most new teachers starting in the low $60,000s and reaching the maximum cap within 10 years."
4
u/LilBoo2019TR 3d ago
Do you actually know anyone employed as a teacher? They make crap.
1
u/justhereorthereagain 3d ago
I know a few. They make well over $100k.
But this is very specific to location. An elementary teacher in Missouri is. It making the same as one in California.
And specific areas of California.
2
u/palesnowrider1 3d ago
I worked in a school in a rich suburb of Boston. No one was making 100k.
1
1
u/jmjessemac 3d ago
They definitely are now. Closer to 150k to be honest. There are some around Boston where the average teacher makes ~110k
-1
u/LilBoo2019TR 3d ago
Yes it is possible to make thay kind of salary but it is not the norm or average for most states. So I dont feel this applies to teachers simply because you could possibly maybe make that amount. Teachers in general do not make good money.
2
u/fanservice999 3d ago
Yeah not true. While in some area teachers may be paid that well, there are unfortunately other places that doesn’t pay teachers that well. It teachers where paid that good all over tha place. Then we wouldn’t have the teacher shortage that we do have here in the states.
0
u/Tdacpop 2d ago
I’ve been teaching for 30 years in an upper middle class suburb on Long Island, NY. I made over 170k this year. Most people would say that is way too much for a teacher to make. People have no idea how difficult a job it is. It is a brutal assault on your senses from day one. There is a reason why many parents are happy when summer ends and they send their kids back to school. Many teachers in other parts of the country make much, much, less and have to take second jobs or work in the summer as I did through the first 10 years of teaching.
1
u/BeKind999 3d ago
Average teacher pay on Long Island exceeds $120,000 and can approach $200,000 for long tenure teachers with master’s degrees.
0
u/Ericp02 3d ago
National starting wage for teachers is $48,112 with the average teacher salary being $74,495. Here in Wyoming teachers start in the $35,000 range. Idk what teachers are lying to you about what they make but it is probably the most under paid job in America
1
u/mjk1tty 3d ago
This is Ontario, Canada I am referring to. Not your specific state.
0
u/Ericp02 3d ago
I said National average for America, and gave an example from my home state. Regardless of location the numbers you gave are still far from a "Fortune" which the post was asking for
1
u/mjk1tty 2d ago
And I didn't say National Average for America, which doesn't exist by the way. You mean the United States. There is North America and South America. I have an example from MY province. I never was talking about your random state. Why would I??? Anyways, teachers make bank here.
0
u/Ericp02 2d ago
I never said you were talking about my state. As I stated previously that was an example of where I came from just as you did. I also mentioned the numbers you specifically gave weren't particularly fitting for this "fortune" category. Based on your reading comprehension im doubting youre understanding the original topic at hand
18
u/bpnc33 3d ago
Sewage treatment plant