--- title: "Highest-Paying Jobs That Only Need a Certification" description: "Occupations whose typical entry requirement is a postsecondary non-degree award, a certificate, licence or certification earned after high school but…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/best/highest-paying-certification-jobs" last-updated: "2026-08-23T07:20:09.337Z" --- # Highest-Paying Jobs That Only Need a Certification Occupations whose typical entry requirement is a postsecondary non-degree award, a certificate, licence or certification earned after high school but short of a degree, ranked by national median wage. 30 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 | [Commercial Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.1% | Certificate | | 2 | [Ship Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ship-engineer) | $109,530 | +1.6% | Certificate | | 3 | [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay) | $103,020 | +5.5% | Certificate | | 4 | [Makeup Artist, Theatrical and Performance](https://nuecareer.com/careers/makeup-artist-theatrical-and-performance) | $97,150 | +8.1% | Certificate | | 5 | [First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-firefighting-and-prevention-workers) | $93,530 | +3.4% | Certificate | | 6 | [Captain, Mate, and Pilot of Water Vessels](https://nuecareer.com/careers/captain-mate-and-pilot-of-water-vessels) | $92,460 | +0.5% | Certificate | | 7 | [Electrical and Electronics Installer and Repairer, Transportation Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-installer-and-repairer-transportation-equipment) | $84,890 | +6.1% | Certificate | | 8 | [Avionics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/avionics-technician) | $82,280 | +8.2% | Certificate | | 9 | [Aircraft Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-mechanic) | $79,870 | +4.0% | Certificate | | 10 | [Insurance Appraiser, Auto Damage](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insurance-appraiser-auto-damage) | $78,240 | -8.2% | Certificate | | 11 | [Fire Inspector and Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fire-inspector-and-investigator) | $75,920 | +3.8% | Certificate | | 12 | [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment) | $74,090 | -0.8% | Certificate | | 13 | [Sound Engineering Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sound-engineering-technician) | $73,130 | -1.7% | Certificate | | 14 | [Commercial Diver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-diver) | $72,990 | +8.5% | Certificate | | 15 | [Court Reporter and Simultaneous Captioner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/court-reporter-and-simultaneous-captioner) | $72,420 | -0.3% | Certificate | | 16 | [Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-numerically-controlled-tool-programmer) | $68,120 | +12.8% | Certificate | | 17 | [Lighting Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lighting-technician) | $68,060 | -4.6% | Certificate | | 18 | [Surgical Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-assistant) | $66,800 | +5.1% | Certificate | | 19 | [Midwife](https://nuecareer.com/careers/midwife) | $65,790 | +3.6% | Certificate | | 20 | [Surgical Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-technologist) | $64,650 | +4.5% | Certificate | | 21 | [Licensed Practical Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/licensed-practical-nurse) | $64,400 | +2.6% | Certificate | | 22 | [Wind Turbine Service Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wind-turbine-service-technician) | $64,120 | +49.9% | Certificate | | 23 | [Tool and Die Maker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tool-and-die-maker) | $64,050 | -10.8% | Certificate | | 24 | [Telecommunications Equipment Installer and Repairer, Except Line Installers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-equipment-installer-and-repairer) | $63,890 | -4.2% | Certificate | | 25 | [Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanic and Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanic-and-installer) | $61,010 | +8.1% | Certificate | | 26 | [Paramedic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paramedic) | $60,600 | +5.0% | Certificate | | 27 | [Firefighter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/firefighter) | $59,280 | +3.4% | Certificate | | 28 | [Truck Driver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/truck-driver) | $58,640 | +4.0% | Certificate | | 29 | [Massage Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/massage-therapist) | $58,450 | +15.4% | Certificate | | 30 | [Audio and Video Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/audio-and-video-technician) | $58,100 | +3.3% | Certificate | 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 30.3 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/highest-paying-certification-jobs