20 high-paying, growing jobs that only need a high school diploma

20. Property, real estate, and community association managers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 11,100

Median annual wage in May 2021: $59,230

On-the-job training: None

19. Mobile heavy equipment mechanics (except engines)

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 11,600

Median annual wage in May 2021: $58,030

On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

18. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 12,200

Median annual wage in May 2021: $61,790

On-the-job training: None

17. Production, planning, and expediting clerks

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 18,900

Median annual wage in May 2021: $48,040

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

16. Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 19,300    

Median annual wage in May 2021: $48,360

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

15. Carpenters

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 20,500

Median annual wage in May 2021: $48,260

On-the-job training: Apprenticeship

14. Real estate sales agents

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 23,100

Median annual wage in May 2021: $48,340

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

13. Chefs and head cooks

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 23,600

Median annual wage in May 2021: $50,160

On-the-job training: None

12. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 12,700

Median annual wage in May 2021: $98,230

On-the-job training: None

11. Flight attendants

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 22,100

Median annual wage in May 2021: $61,640

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

10. Police and sheriff's patrol officers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 21,500

Median annual wage in May 2021: $64,610

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

9. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 19,800

Median annual wage in May 2021: $71,260

On-the-job training: None

8. Insurance sales agents

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 32,900

Median annual wage in May 2021: $49,840

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

7. First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 31,000

Median annual wage in May 2021: $54,850

On-the-job training: None

6. Food service managers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 32,300

Median annual wage in May 2021: $59,440

On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

5. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 29,900

Median annual wage in May 2021: $72,010

On-the-job training: None

4. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 48,900

Median annual wage in May 2021: $61,600

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

3. Electricians

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 50,200

Median annual wage in May 2021: $60,040

On-the-job training: Apprenticeship

2. Industrial machinery mechanics

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 63,100

Median annual wage in May 2021: $59,840

On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

1. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel

Projected change in employment from 2021 to 2031: 71,400

Median annual wage in May 2021: $60,550

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

How we ranked the above occupations

Not every job that pays higher than the median annual wage and is projected to see job growth over the decade requires a college education. 

For this ranking, Insider first took the geometric mean of median annual wages and projected employment growth from 2021 to 2031 using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Because we were interested in jobs that pay at least the median annual wage, we excluded jobs that paid less than $45,760 a year, the median wage for all occupations in 2021 per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Home health and personal care aides, which has a typical education requirement of a high school diploma or equivalent, are projected to grow the most between 2021 and 2031 with over 924,000 new jobs. But this occupation pays $29,430, $16,330 less than the median wage in 2021. Therefore, it's one job that was excluded in our analysis of high-paying, growing jobs.

After putting together our overall list of high-paying, growing jobs, we filtered our list so only occupations that typically need a high school diploma or equivalent for entry were left. We ranked those based on their geometric mean, where a higher geometric means a higher spot on the list.

In addition to median annual wages and projected change in employment, we included above on-the-job training for each occupation. This comes from six categories listed by BLS and can range from no on-the job-training to long-term on-the-job training, the latter taking over 12 months.