Highest-paying jobs in Sioux City that don't require a college degree
Highest-paying jobs in Sioux City that don't require a college degree
From the moment they first set foot on campus, today's high-school students are inundated with messages about the importance of receiving a college education. They hear it from their guidance counselors, teachers, parents, family members, neighbors, coaches—the list goes on and on. While graduation from a four-year college can certainly work wonders for students' future careers, it's not necessary for all fields—something admissions officers and guidance counselors sometimes fail to mention.
To find the highest-paying jobs that don't require a college degree, Stacker consulted the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook to compile a list of all jobs that don't require higher education. All professions that listed a high-school diploma, some college education (without a degree conferred), postsecondary non-degree award, or no formal education requirements for entry-level positions were considered. Jobs that didn't list any entry-level education requirement were excluded, as were job titles that grouped several positions together. Jobs are ranked by 2020 annual mean wage. Job descriptions are from O*NET.
Keep reading to discover the highest-paying jobs in Sioux City that don’t require a college degree.
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#50. Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers
- Annual mean salary: $43,860
- #228 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 590
National
- Annual mean salary: $46,690
- Employment: 397,550
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Fairbanks, AK ($75,080)
--- Wheeling, WV-OH ($74,970)
--- Anchorage, AK ($73,790)
- Job description: Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.

#49. Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists
- Annual mean salary: $44,030
- #312 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 270
National
- Annual mean salary: $52,090
- Employment: 253,010
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($75,320)
--- New Bedford, MA ($75,110)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($72,460)
- Job description: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul buses and trucks, or maintain and repair any type of diesel engines. Includes mechanics working primarily with automobile or marine diesel engines.
#48. Dental assistants
- Annual mean salary: $44,290
- #97 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 190
National
- Annual mean salary: $42,310
- Employment: 312,140
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Santa Rosa, CA ($58,570)
--- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ($56,240)
--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($54,550)
- Job description: Perform limited clinical duties under the direction of a dentist. Clinical duties may include equipment preparation and sterilization, preparing patients for treatment, assisting the dentist during treatment, and providing patients with instructions for oral healthcare procedures. May perform administrative duties such as scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.

#47. Structural iron and steel workers
- Annual mean salary: $44,410
- #134 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 60
National
- Annual mean salary: $58,650
- Employment: 71,490
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Trenton, NJ ($91,360)
--- Rockford, IL ($90,160)
--- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($89,740)
- Job description: Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks. May erect metal storage tanks and assemble prefabricated metal buildings.
#46. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses
- Annual mean salary: $45,150
- #263 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 380
National
- Annual mean salary: $50,090
- Employment: 676,440
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($75,950)
--- Santa Rosa, CA ($74,820)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($74,520)
- Job description: Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required.
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#45. Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders
- Annual mean salary: $45,350
- #55 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 140
National
- Annual mean salary: $40,960
- Employment: 116,190
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Shreveport-Bossier City, LA ($64,900)
--- Rockford, IL ($55,380)
--- Pine Bluff, AR ($55,330)
- Job description: Set up, operate, or tend machines to mix or blend materials, such as chemicals, tobacco, liquids, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.
#44. Surgical technologists
- Annual mean salary: $45,370
- #182 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 100
National
- Annual mean salary: $51,510
- Employment: 107,400
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($79,230)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($74,080)
--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($73,460)
- Job description: Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.

#43. Food service managers
- Annual mean salary: $45,440
- #347 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 140
National
- Annual mean salary: $61,000
- Employment: 197,010
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT ($97,610)
--- Trenton, NJ ($95,640)
--- Waterbury, CT ($88,100)
- Job description: Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages.
#42. Farm equipment mechanics and service technicians
- Annual mean salary: $45,570
- #68 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 50
National
- Annual mean salary: $45,350
- Employment: 35,720
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Las Cruces, NM ($72,390)
--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($65,240)
--- Fargo, ND-MN ($63,400)
- Job description: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, dairy equipment, and irrigation systems.

#41. Computer user support specialists
- Annual mean salary: $46,460
- #295 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 160
National
- Annual mean salary: $57,000
- Employment: 634,820
- Entry level education requirements: Some college, no degree
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA ($86,350)
--- Napa, CA ($78,740)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($78,670)
- Job description: Provide technical assistance to computer users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, via telephone, or electronically. May provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software, including printing, installation, word processing, electronic mail, and operating systems.
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#40. Machinists
- Annual mean salary: $46,790
- #175 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 80
National
- Annual mean salary: $47,800
- Employment: 360,340
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($68,950)
--- Anchorage, AK ($64,610)
--- Farmington, NM ($64,190)
- Job description: Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments out of metal. Includes precision instrument makers who fabricate, modify, or repair mechanical instruments. May also fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or maintain industrial machines, applying knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures.

#39. Highway maintenance workers
- Annual mean salary: $46,870
- #103 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 200
National
- Annual mean salary: $43,200
- Employment: 149,890
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($72,040)
--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($66,270)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($65,290)
- Job description: Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Duties include patching broken or eroded pavement and repairing guard rails, highway markers, and snow fences. May also mow or clear brush from along road, or plow snow from roadway.

#38. Property, real estate, and community association managers
- Annual mean salary: $47,680
- #253 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 100
National
- Annual mean salary: $73,210
- Employment: 219,800
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Charleston-North Charleston, SC ($117,770)
--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($113,800)
--- Boulder, CO ($107,230)
- Job description: Plan, direct, or coordinate the selling, buying, leasing, or governance activities of commercial, industrial, or residential real estate properties. Includes managers of homeowner and condominium associations, rented or leased housing units, buildings, or land (including rights-of-way).

#36 (tie). Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators
- Annual mean salary: $48,050
- #210 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 200
National
- Annual mean salary: $55,280
- Employment: 402,870
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($96,440)
--- Barnstable Town, MA ($93,620)
--- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA ($93,320)
- Job description: Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.
#36 (tie). Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders
- Annual mean salary: $48,050
- #41 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 60
National
- Annual mean salary: $42,140
- Employment: 137,510
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Bremerton-Silverdale, WA ($64,780)
--- Portsmouth, NH-ME ($64,240)
--- Harrisonburg, VA ($61,990)
- Job description: Set up, operate, or tend spraying or rolling machines to coat or paint any of a wide variety of products, including glassware, cloth, ceramics, metal, plastic, paper, or wood, with lacquer, silver, copper, rubber, varnish, glaze, enamel, oil, or rust-proofing materials. Includes painters of transportation vehicles such as painters in auto body repair facilities.
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#35. Firefighters
- Annual mean salary: $48,270
- #152 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 170
National
- Annual mean salary: $56,360
- Employment: 311,350
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($125,680)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($109,480)
--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($105,670)
- Job description: Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Duties may include fire prevention, emergency medical service, hazardous material response, search and rescue, and disaster assistance.

#34. Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
- Annual mean salary: $48,510
- #182 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 110
National
- Annual mean salary: $51,890
- Employment: 119,380
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($99,130)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($89,730)
--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($86,080)
- Job description: Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.

#33. First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers
- Annual mean salary: $48,690
- #195 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 70
National
- Annual mean salary: $54,040
- Employment: 103,730
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Anchorage, AK ($85,110)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($77,260)
--- Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA ($76,940)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities. Work may involve reviewing contracts to ascertain service, machine, and workforce requirements; answering inquiries from potential customers regarding methods, material, and price ranges; and preparing estimates according to labor, material, and machine costs.
#32. Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants
- Annual mean salary: $48,990
- #320 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 140
National
- Annual mean salary: $65,230
- Employment: 503,390
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($92,040)
--- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT ($89,100)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($86,180)
- Job description: Provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. May also train and supervise lower-level clerical staff.

#31. Postal service clerks
- Annual mean salary: $50,410
- #235 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 70
National
- Annual mean salary: $51,200
- Employment: 86,950
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Monroe, MI ($58,120)
--- El Centro, CA ($58,000)
--- Houma-Thibodaux, LA ($57,330)
- Job description: Perform any combination of tasks in a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office, such as receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; fill out and sell money orders; place mail in pigeon holes of mail rack or in bags; and examine mail for correct postage. Includes postal service clerks employed by USPS contractors.
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#30. Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers
- Annual mean salary: $50,880
- #259 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 100
National
- Annual mean salary: $61,980
- Employment: 190,510
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Elmira, NY ($94,280)
--- Springfield, MA-CT ($92,920)
--- Fairbanks, AK ($87,940)
- Job description: Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.

#29. Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines
- Annual mean salary: $50,920
- #225 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 130
National
- Annual mean salary: $57,000
- Employment: 147,680
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($84,460)
--- Fairbanks, AK ($81,920)
--- Bismarck, ND ($78,350)
- Job description: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul mobile mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment, such as cranes, bulldozers, graders, and conveyors, used in construction, logging, and mining.

#28. Telecommunications line installers and repairers
- Annual mean salary: $51,320
- #102 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: data not available
National
- Annual mean salary: $61,860
- Employment: 122,480
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Fresno, CA ($93,060)
--- Salinas, CA ($91,790)
--- Champaign-Urbana, IL ($89,000)
- Job description: Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.

#27. Postal service mail carriers
- Annual mean salary: $52,330
- #256 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 210
National
- Annual mean salary: $53,180
- Employment: 333,570
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Bismarck, ND ($56,520)
--- Burlington, NC ($55,750)
--- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($55,680)
- Job description: Sort and deliver mail for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Deliver mail on established route by vehicle or on foot. Includes postal service mail carriers employed by USPS contractors.

#26. Aircraft mechanics and service technicians
- Annual mean salary: $52,530
- #168 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 70
National
- Annual mean salary: $69,040
- Employment: 128,300
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX ($95,680)
--- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT ($89,710)
--- Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO ($87,830)
- Job description: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines and assemblies, such as hydraulic and pneumatic systems.
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#25. Cargo and freight agents
- Annual mean salary: $54,540
- #13 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 40
National
- Annual mean salary: $47,170
- Employment: 96,510
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Yakima, WA ($72,590)
--- St. Cloud, MN ($67,360)
--- Springfield, MO ($59,660)
- Job description: Expedite and route movement of incoming and outgoing cargo and freight shipments in airline, train, and trucking terminals and shipping docks. Take orders from customers and arrange pickup of freight and cargo for delivery to loading platform. Prepare and examine bills of lading to determine shipping charges and tariffs.

#24. Production, planning, and expediting clerks
- Annual mean salary: $54,600
- #71 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 220
National
- Annual mean salary: $52,000
- Employment: 362,090
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Bremerton-Silverdale, WA ($69,410)
--- Pine Bluff, AR ($68,850)
--- Portsmouth, NH-ME ($66,920)
- Job description: Coordinate and expedite the flow of work and materials within or between departments of an establishment according to production schedule. Duties include reviewing and distributing production, work, and shipment schedules; conferring with department supervisors to determine progress of work and completion dates; and compiling reports on progress of work, inventory levels, costs, and production problems.

#23. Electricians
- Annual mean salary: $55,110
- #200 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 320
National
- Annual mean salary: $61,550
- Employment: 656,510
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($106,680)
--- Trenton, NJ ($90,210)
--- Kankakee, IL ($88,530)
- Job description: Install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring, equipment, and fixtures. Ensure that work is in accordance with relevant codes. May install or service street lights, intercom systems, or electrical control systems.

#22. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers
- Annual mean salary: $55,480
- #100 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 300
National
- Annual mean salary: $53,410
- Employment: 344,020
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Fairbanks, AK ($91,840)
--- Napa, CA ($82,650)
--- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA ($76,440)
- Job description: Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating stoves.

#21. Sheet metal workers
- Annual mean salary: $55,610
- #101 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 50
National
- Annual mean salary: $55,320
- Employment: 128,220
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Fairbanks, AK ($132,900)
--- Kankakee, IL ($91,140)
--- Olympia-Tumwater, WA ($87,030)
- Job description: Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.
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#20. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters
- Annual mean salary: $56,350
- #154 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 230
National
- Annual mean salary: $61,100
- Employment: 417,440
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($106,100)
--- Fairbanks, AK ($94,280)
--- Kankakee, IL ($93,420)
- Job description: Assemble, install, alter, and repair pipelines or pipe systems that carry water, steam, air, or other liquids or gases. May install heating and cooling equipment and mechanical control systems. Includes sprinkler fitters.

#19. Industrial machinery mechanics
- Annual mean salary: $56,520
- #164 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 550
National
- Annual mean salary: $57,350
- Employment: 385,980
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI ($84,180)
--- San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA ($84,150)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($77,580)
- Job description: Repair, install, adjust, or maintain industrial production and processing machinery or refinery and pipeline distribution systems. May also install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to plans.
#18. Eligibility interviewers, government programs
- Annual mean salary: $58,330
- #12 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 30
National
- Annual mean salary: $47,990
- Employment: 138,820
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($81,300)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($69,580)
--- Napa, CA ($66,690)
- Job description: Determine eligibility of persons applying to receive assistance from government programs and agency resources, such as welfare, unemployment benefits, social security, and public housing.
#17. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers
- Annual mean salary: $58,850
- #144 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 490
National
- Annual mean salary: $62,010
- Employment: 1,427,260
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Bremerton-Silverdale, WA ($78,770)
--- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($77,030)
--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($75,820)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of clerical and administrative support workers.

#16. Insurance sales agents
- Annual mean salary: $60,580
- #187 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 260
National
- Annual mean salary: $69,100
- Employment: 409,950
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($109,540)
--- Birmingham-Hoover, AL ($105,840)
--- Fond du Lac, WI ($105,190)
- Job description: Sell life, property, casualty, health, automotive, or other types of insurance. May refer clients to independent brokers, work as an independent broker, or be employed by an insurance company.
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#15. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products
- Annual mean salary: $64,080
- #246 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 840
National
- Annual mean salary: $73,500
- Employment: 1,278,670
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Danbury, CT ($112,810)
--- Napa, CA ($101,850)
--- Santa Fe, NM ($93,680)
- Job description: Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold.

#14. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
- Annual mean salary: $64,130
- #251 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 280
National
- Annual mean salary: $72,990
- Employment: 614,080
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($107,870)
--- Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA ($103,930)
--- Santa Rosa, CA ($100,620)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.

#13. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers
- Annual mean salary: $66,470
- #165 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 750
National
- Annual mean salary: $66,800
- Employment: 599,900
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Baton Rouge, LA ($101,930)
--- Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX ($100,590)
--- Longview, WA ($99,590)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and operating workers, such as inspectors, precision workers, machine setters and operators, assemblers, fabricators, and plant and system operators. Excludes team or work leaders.

#11 (tie). Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel
- Annual mean salary: $69,030
- #80 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 210
National
- Annual mean salary: $70,490
- Employment: 977,070
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($115,620)
--- Lawrence, KS ($97,910)
--- Boulder, CO ($94,870)
- Job description: Sell services to individuals or businesses. May describe options or resolve client problems.

#11 (tie). Construction and building inspectors
- Annual mean salary: $69,030
- #65 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 40
National
- Annual mean salary: $66,470
- Employment: 113,770
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($103,820)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($102,920)
--- Salinas, CA ($98,360)
- Job description: Inspect structures using engineering skills to determine structural soundness and compliance with specifications, building codes, and other regulations. Inspections may be general in nature or may be limited to a specific area, such as electrical systems or plumbing.
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#10. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
- Annual mean salary: $71,500
- #139 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 50
National
- Annual mean salary: $83,170
- Employment: 69,000
- Entry level education requirements: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($187,890)
--- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($181,340)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($176,050)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and control.

#9. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door
- Annual mean salary: $71,610
- #39 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 30
National
- Annual mean salary: $62,400
- Employment: 50,660
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Santa Rosa, CA ($95,240)
--- Madison, WI ($90,020)
--- Salinas, CA ($87,650)
- Job description: Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.

#8. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
- Annual mean salary: $72,120
- #155 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 380
National
- Annual mean salary: $73,100
- Employment: 475,000
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($95,680)
--- Bremerton-Silverdale, WA ($93,140)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($92,810)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of mechanics, installers, and repairers. May also advise customers on recommended services. Excludes team or work leaders.

#7. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
- Annual mean salary: $80,720
- #161 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 80
National
- Annual mean salary: $90,120
- Employment: 240,290
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN ($124,150)
--- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC ($122,460)
--- Leominster-Gardner, MA ($119,130)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of sales workers other than retail sales workers. May perform duties such as budgeting, accounting, and personnel work, in addition to supervisory duties.

#6. Detectives and criminal investigators
- Annual mean salary: $81,340
- #135 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 30
National
- Annual mean salary: $89,300
- Employment: 105,980
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($127,380)
--- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($127,090)
--- Anchorage, AK ($126,530)
- Job description: Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.
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#5. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Annual mean salary: $85,810
- #46 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 90
National
- Annual mean salary: $74,410
- Employment: 114,930
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($114,820)
--- Redding, CA ($112,850)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($111,810)
- Job description: Install or repair cables or wires used in electrical power or distribution systems. May erect poles and light or heavy duty transmission towers.
#4. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Annual mean salary: $86,310
- #187 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 70
National
- Annual mean salary: $97,180
- Employment: 122,310
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($200,090)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($182,810)
--- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA ($182,720)
- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police force.
#3. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Annual mean salary: $105,530
- #71 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 110
National
- Annual mean salary: $105,100
- Employment: 132,210
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($163,580)
--- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT ($137,680)
--- Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ ($136,410)
- Job description: Plan, direct, or coordinate transportation, storage, or distribution activities in accordance with organizational policies and applicable government laws or regulations. Includes logistics managers.

#2. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
- Annual mean salary: $113,990
- #5 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 40
National
- Annual mean salary: $76,810
- Employment: 5,670
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL ($128,170)
--- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA ($118,710)
--- Napa, CA ($116,750)
- Job description: Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments. May hire, train, and supervise farm workers or contract for services to carry out the day-to-day activities of the managed operation. May engage in or supervise planting, cultivating, harvesting, and financial and marketing activities.

#1. Commercial pilots
- Annual mean salary: $153,990
- #1 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 40
National
- Annual mean salary: $110,830
- Employment: 37,120
- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Sioux City, IA-NE-SD ($153,990)
--- Medford, OR ($152,730)
--- Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA ($152,290)
- Job description: Pilot and navigate the flight of fixed-wing aircraft on nonscheduled air carrier routes, or helicopters. Requires Commercial Pilot certificate. Includes charter pilots with similar certification, and air ambulance and air tour pilots. Excludes regional, national, and international airline pilots.