Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Highest Paying Skilled Trades (2024)
Across 47 skilled trades tracked in BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Elevator Mechanic leads with a national median wage of $116,702. The spread between top and bottom trades is $65,842, with the median trade earning roughly $66,876 per year.
What Drives the Top of the Ranking
The top of the skilled-trades pay ladder is dominated by a handful of patterns. First, trades with steep certification or licensure requirements — elevator mechanics, electrical line installers, certain types of construction managers — command higher wages because the labor pool is constrained by long training pipelines. Second, trades tied to specialized industrial work (pipefitters in petrochemical regions, machinists in aerospace and defense) earn premiums tied to the industries they serve. Third, energy-transition trades — solar installers, wind technicians, EV-infrastructure electricians — have ridden federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into above-average wage growth.
What you will not find at the top of the list is general construction labor. Trades that are easy to enter and have shorter training windows track closer to inflation than to specialty wages, even in tight labor markets. The Trade Pay Score column reflects this — a high nominal median is not enough on its own to earn an A grade if 5-year growth is flat or cost-of-living-adjusted real pay erodes the headline number.
For workers and career changers, the actionable read is to look at both the nominal median and the Avg Grade column. A trade with a B or C grade and rapid 5-year growth may overtake an A-graded trade with stagnant wages within a few release cycles. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh publishes projected 2032 employment levels for every occupation here — that data, paired with the wage-growth column below, is the strongest forward-looking signal available.
| # | Trade | Category | Median | Range | Grade | 5yr Growth | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elevator Mechanic | Specialty | $116,702 | $57,470 – $164,020 | B | +3% | 9,770 |
| 2 | Construction Manager | Management | $114,957 | $97,010 – $160,870 | B | +5% | 160,280 |
| 3 | Power Line Installer | Electrical | $101,512 | $75,630 – $130,730 | B | +7% | 39,600 |
| 4 | Electrical Power-Line Tech | Electrical | $101,512 | $75,630 – $130,730 | B | +7% | 39,600 |
| 5 | Boilermaker | Industrial | $89,510 | $60,690 – $138,790 | C | +-1% | 2,500 |
| 6 | Pile Driver Operator | Heavy Equipment | $87,644 | $46,710 – $133,080 | C | +4% | 1,070 |
| 7 | Aircraft Mechanic | Automotive | $79,931 | $61,630 – $100,320 | B | +6% | 60,720 |
| 8 | Building Inspector | Management | $75,182 | $60,520 – $125,150 | C | +1% | 63,540 |
| 9 | Crane Operator | Heavy Equipment | $75,123 | $45,360 – $132,560 | C | +4% | 16,150 |
| 10 | Millwright | Industrial | $72,209 | $50,560 – $110,830 | C | +6% | 11,870 |
| 11 | Wind Turbine Technician | Energy | $71,538 | $61,800 – $105,370 | A | +45% | 2,580 |
| 12 | Electrician | Electrical | $70,935 | $52,650 – $102,070 | B | +11% | 309,770 |
| 13 | Ironworker | Structural | $70,146 | $45,610 – $117,110 | C | +4% | 5,830 |
| 14 | Industrial Electrician | Electrical | $69,958 | $48,960 – $106,960 | B | +11% | 21,950 |
| 15 | Plumber | Plumbing | $69,782 | $52,280 – $100,110 | C | +6% | 189,520 |
| 16 | Pipefitter | Plumbing | $69,782 | $52,280 – $100,110 | C | +6% | 189,520 |
| 17 | Fire Sprinkler Fitter | Plumbing | $69,782 | $52,280 – $100,110 | C | +6% | 189,520 |
| 18 | Steamfitter | Plumbing | $69,782 | $52,280 – $100,110 | C | +6% | 189,520 |
| 19 | Mason (Bricklayer) | Construction | $68,974 | $48,300 – $101,120 | D | +-2% | 23,930 |
| 20 | Heavy Equipment Operator | Heavy Equipment | $68,475 | $48,240 – $117,350 | C | +4% | 160,130 |
| 21 | Industrial Machinery Mechanic | Industrial | $67,761 | $60,420 – $86,120 | B | +14% | 140,310 |
| 22 | Tool and Die Maker | Metalwork | $67,268 | $50,460 – $103,200 | D | +-3% | 19,270 |
| 23 | Sheet Metal Worker | Metalwork | $67,236 | $46,800 – $102,680 | C | +4% | 45,860 |
| 24 | Telecommunications Tech | Electrical | $66,876 | $57,740 – $85,670 | C | +1% | 63,360 |
| 25 | Diesel Mechanic | Automotive | $64,435 | $56,840 – $80,850 | C | +5% | 107,570 |
| 26 | Environmental Engineering Tech | Specialty | $63,192 | $40,430 – $98,110 | C | +5% | 3,820 |
| 27 | Plasterer | Construction | $63,149 | $46,300 – $90,020 | D | +-1% | 8,110 |
| 28 | HVAC Technician | HVAC | $62,556 | $50,010 – $77,600 | C | +6% | 157,240 |
| 29 | Refrigeration Mechanic | HVAC | $62,556 | $50,010 – $77,600 | C | +6% | 157,240 |
| 30 | Carpenter | Construction | $61,080 | $47,670 – $80,950 | C | +2% | 299,230 |
| 31 | Concrete Finisher | Construction | $60,072 | $46,690 – $82,190 | C | +2% | 84,630 |
| 32 | Glazier | Construction | $58,622 | $46,040 – $105,080 | C | +8% | 26,230 |
| 33 | Drywall Installer | Construction | $58,184 | $34,890 – $80,500 | D | +-2% | 35,190 |
| 34 | Machinist | Metalwork | $57,590 | $47,640 – $73,790 | D | +-1% | 113,790 |
| 35 | Roofer | Construction | $56,189 | $44,530 – $79,040 | D | +2% | 54,380 |
| 36 | Tile Setter | Construction | $55,563 | $43,640 – $73,310 | D | +-2% | 16,140 |
| 37 | Welder | Welding | $54,982 | $48,340 – $64,510 | C | +4% | 124,810 |
| 38 | Structural Welder | Welding | $54,982 | $48,340 – $64,510 | C | +4% | 124,810 |
| 39 | Underwater Welder | Welding | $54,982 | $48,340 – $64,510 | C | +4% | 124,810 |
| 40 | Floor Layer | Construction | $54,675 | $39,000 – $75,610 | D | +-2% | 10,430 |
| 41 | Auto Mechanic | Automotive | $53,986 | $46,570 – $74,590 | D | +2% | 269,550 |
| 42 | Solar PV Installer | Electrical | $53,971 | $38,650 – $70,390 | B | +22% | 10,350 |
| 43 | Septic Tank Servicer | Plumbing | $52,193 | $39,540 – $62,830 | D | +2% | 8,860 |
| 44 | Locksmith | Specialty | $52,024 | $37,110 – $75,780 | D | +7% | 7,020 |
| 45 | Painter (Construction) | Construction | $51,605 | $43,470 – $63,140 | D | +-1% | 98,760 |
| 46 | Maintenance Mechanic | Industrial | $51,020 | $42,060 – $63,470 | C | +4% | 627,680 |
| 47 | Insulation Worker | Construction | $50,860 | $42,990 – $65,100 | D | +3% | 15,840 |
How These Ranks Are Calculated
For each trade, we pull the national median wage from the 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release at bls.gov/oes, then average the metropolitan-level medians to compute the city-level spread shown in the Range column. The 5-year growth column compares the current national median to the same series five OEWS releases prior. The Avg Grade column is the average Trade Pay Score across all tracked metros for that trade — a 0-100 composite weighting raw pay (30%), wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%). Full methodology.
Career outlook information — projected 2032 employment, typical apprenticeship length, on-the-job training expectations — comes from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship program listings are maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor at apprenticeship.gov. All three are public-domain government data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest-paying skilled trade in the United States?
Based on 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, Elevator Mechanic is the highest-paying skilled trade with a national median wage of $116,702. Construction Manager ranks second at $114,957, followed by Power Line Installer at $101,512. The full BLS dataset is published at https://www.bls.gov/oes/.
How much do skilled trades pay on average?
Across the 47 trades tracked here, the median trade earns roughly $66,876 per year nationally. The spread between the highest- and lowest-paying tracked trades is $65,842, reflecting differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, and industry concentration. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ publishes projected employment growth for each occupation through 2032.
What is a Trade Pay Score, and what does the grade mean?
The Trade Pay Score is a 0-100 composite measuring how rewarding a trade is overall. It weights raw national median pay (30%), 5-year wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power across tracked metros (20%). A score of 80+ earns an A grade. Of the 47 trades on this page, 1 earn an A and 9 earn a B — the rest fall into C, D, or F territory.
Do you need a college degree for these trades?
Most skilled trades on this list do not require a four-year college degree. The standard pathway is a registered apprenticeship — typically 3-5 years of paid on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction, registered through the U.S. Department of Labor at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/. Some trades, like elevator mechanics and certain construction managers, layer additional licensure or certification requirements on top of the apprenticeship.
How often is this ranking updated?
The ranking is recomputed each time BLS publishes a new Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release at https://www.bls.gov/oes/ — typically once per year, in late spring, covering the prior calendar year. This page reflects the 2024 OEWS release; it was last refreshed May 2026. As wage trends shift year over year, the ordering can change meaningfully — particularly for energy and electrification trades currently posting above-average growth.
Across 47 skilled trades tracked in BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Elevator Mechanic leads with a national median wage of $116,702. The spread between top and bottom trades is $65,842, with the median trade earning roughly $66,876 per year.