Mean Income: $79,930 Top 10%: $140,740
While we get no pleasure from saying this, working in the funeral industry is extremely luxurious and quite profitable. Caskets go for thousands of dollars, and funerals are a very expensive thing to hold. If you don’t mind the field (and spending your days consoling people), you can make great money in this business.
Funeral directors are responsible for the entire funeral process — from finding the right casket to filing the necessary paperwork. To get the job, you’ll need a degree in funeral service or mortuary science. Completing the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) program is also necessary, but might be worth it.
Database Administrators
Mean Income: $77,350 Top 10%: $108,500
Database administration is an extremely cool job. If you work as a freelancer, you’ll basically get to work from home and help secure private databases for companies. If you’re a tech wiz and don’t mind the occasional CEO freaking out when their computers don’t work, this is a very profitable and rewarding venture.
You should have at least a few years of experience working on SQL databases and/or online databases. In addition, having a degree helps, but it’s not mandatory. Being great at problem-solving is obviously important, as you’re basically taking the role of protecting the precious data of these companies.
Multimedia Artists and Animators
Mean Income: $68,060 Top 10%: $109,370
Digital artistry has received a bad rap in recent years as a job that requires enormous hours for very little pay. This is true when you’re working for visual effects companies and most video-game developers, but the job is much better if you work for a business. As a digital artist, you’ll get to work from home, and have extremely flexible hours.
Since this is a very artistic job, you’ll obviously need to have a great visual sense. It’s also important to be adept at various digital art software such as Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and others, mostly depending on your field. Having a portfolio is important as well.
Home Economics Teachers
Mean Income: $68,080 Top 10%: $110,650
Home Economics teachers get to teach young people practical life skills. These teachers help students learn about being financially smart, finding a career path, living a healthy lifestyle, doing your taxes, investing in real estate, and more. You basically get the chance to prepare young people for adulthood.
The job usually requires a degree or at least a very considerable base of experience. You may also need some other various certificates and licenses, depending on where you’d like to teach. It’s also crucially important to be a great communicator, love the subject, and have the ability to create engaging and well-structured lessons for students.
Physician
Mean Income: $194,500 Top 10%: $370,000
Let's face it — garlic and other home remedies can only go so far. When your home remedies aren't working anymore, you contact your physician. Those can be found in hospitals or in private practice (in case you have some fancy insurance policy). Whether it's stomachache, headache, or sniffles, you can count on one of these to help you out.
After all, they don't go through years of studying and residency periods for nothing. Medical school is anything but cheap (between $19,000 and $68,000 a year), so it's a good thing this job pays well. You know those student loans don't pay themselves.