---
title: "Adventure Jobs"
description: "Careers with real physical challenge and unusual settings: wildland firefighting, expedition and mountain guiding, diving, smokejumping and work at sea…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/adventure-jobs"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Adventure Jobs

Careers with real physical challenge and unusual settings: wildland firefighting, expedition and mountain guiding, diving, smokejumping and work at sea or in the air. Careers centred on this field come first, then the ones that touch it, each group ranked by national median pay from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Specialty careers, which BLS reports inside a broader occupation, show that occupation’s figures and are labelled on their pages.

48 occupations, in the ranked order the career bank computed. Wages are BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth figures are BLS Employment Projections and education is the BLS "typical education needed for entry".

| # | Occupation | Median annual wage | Projected growth | Typical education |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Storm Restoration Lineworker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/storm-restoration-lineworker) | $95,320 | +10.3% | High school |
| 2 | [Toolpusher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/toolpusher) | $79,920 | +5.0% | High school |
| 3 | [Tower Crane Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tower-crane-operator) | $68,080 | +3.8% | High school |
| 4 | [Structural Iron and Steel Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker) | $62,780 | +3.1% | High school |
| 5 | [Industrial Rope Access Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-rope-access-technician) | $62,640 | +3.9% | High school |
| 6 | [Mine Rescue Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mine-rescue-specialist) | $61,560 | +19.4% | High school |
| 7 | [Explosives Worker, Ordnance Handling Expert, and Blaster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/explosives-worker-ordnance-handling-expert-and-blaster) | $61,390 | 0.0% | High school |
| 8 | [Tunnel Boring Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tunnel-boring-machine-operator) | $59,850 | +4.6% | High school |
| 9 | [Helitack Crew Member](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helitack-crew-member) | $59,280 | +3.7% | High school |
| 10 | [Hotshot Crew Member](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hotshot-crew-member) | $59,280 | +3.7% | High school |
| 11 | [Smokejumper](https://nuecareer.com/careers/smokejumper) | $59,280 | +3.7% | High school |
| 12 | [Avalanche Forecaster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/avalanche-forecaster) | $54,560 | -2.1% | Associate's |
| 13 | [Expedition Leader](https://nuecareer.com/careers/expedition-leader) | $38,120 | +6.3% | High school |
| 14 | [Mountain Guide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mountain-guide) | $38,120 | +6.3% | High school |
| 15 | [River Guide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/river-guide) | $38,120 | +6.3% | High school |
| 16 | [High-Rise Window Cleaner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/high-rise-window-cleaner) | $36,840 | +2.2% | No formal credential |
| 17 | [Ski Patroller](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ski-patroller) | $33,580 | +5.5% | No formal credential |
| 18 | [Astronaut](https://nuecareer.com/careers/astronaut) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Master's |
| 19 | [Commercial Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 20 | [eVTOL Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/evtol-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 21 | [Test Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/test-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Bachelor's |
| 22 | [Drill and Blast Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drill-and-blast-engineer) | $106,220 | +3.8% | Bachelor's |
| 23 | [Mine Ventilation Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mine-ventilation-engineer) | $106,220 | +3.8% | Bachelor's |
| 24 | [Wireline Field Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wireline-field-engineer) | $104,110 | +11.2% | Bachelor's |
| 25 | [Volcanologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/volcanologist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Doctorate |
| 26 | [Wellsite Geologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wellsite-geologist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Bachelor's |
| 27 | [Flight Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-nurse) | $97,550 | +5.6% | Bachelor's |
| 28 | [Electrical Power-Line Installer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-power-line-installer-and-repairer) | $95,320 | +10.3% | High school |
| 29 | [Transmission Lineworker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transmission-lineworker) | $95,320 | +10.3% | High school |
| 30 | [Deputy U.S. Marshal](https://nuecareer.com/careers/deputy-us-marshal) | $93,790 | +0.2% | High school |
| 31 | [Intelligence Operations Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/intelligence-operations-officer) | $93,790 | +0.2% | Bachelor's |
| 32 | [Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels](https://nuecareer.com/careers/captain-mate-and-pilot-of-water-vessels) | $92,460 | +4.0% | Certificate |
| 33 | [Maritime Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maritime-pilot) | $92,460 | +4.0% | Certificate |
| 34 | [Yacht Captain](https://nuecareer.com/careers/yacht-captain) | $92,460 | +4.0% | Certificate |
| 35 | [Frac Supervisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/frac-supervisor) | $79,920 | +5.0% | High school |
| 36 | [Offshore Installation Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/offshore-installation-manager) | $79,920 | +5.0% | High school |
| 37 | [Ski Area Operations Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ski-area-operations-manager) | $79,520 | +6.0% | Bachelor's |
| 38 | [Catastrophe Adjuster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/catastrophe-adjuster) | $78,000 | -5.5% | High school |
| 39 | [Coral Reef Ecologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/coral-reef-ecologist) | $76,780 | +3.6% | Bachelor's |
| 40 | [Bridge Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bridge-inspector) | $74,690 | 0.0% | High school |
| 41 | [Law Enforcement Park Ranger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/law-enforcement-park-ranger) | $74,060 | -5.7% | Bachelor's |
| 42 | [ROV Pilot Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rov-pilot-technician) | $73,900 | +2.6% | Associate's |
| 43 | [Commercial Diver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-diver) | $72,990 | +4.8% | Certificate |
| 44 | [Saturation Diver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/saturation-diver) | $72,990 | +4.8% | Certificate |
| 45 | [Underwater Welder](https://nuecareer.com/careers/underwater-welder) | $72,990 | +4.8% | Certificate |
| 46 | [Maritime Archaeologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maritime-archaeologist) | $70,770 | +6.0% | Master's |
| 47 | [Offshore Crane Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/offshore-crane-operator) | $68,080 | +3.8% | High school |
| 48 | [Directional Driller](https://nuecareer.com/careers/directional-driller) | $67,890 | +0.8% | No formal credential |

Full record for any row, including wage percentiles and state-level pay: https://nuecareer.com/careers/{slug} or https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/{slug}.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/collections/adventure-jobs