---
title: "Weird Jobs That Actually Exist"
description: "Real careers most people have never heard of, from perfusionists and foley artists to farriers, ROV pilots and avalanche forecasters. Ranked by national…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/weird-jobs"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Weird Jobs That Actually Exist

Real careers most people have never heard of, from perfusionists and foley artists to farriers, ROV pilots and avalanche forecasters. Ranked by national median pay (BLS OEWS). Every career listed is a real job people hold and hire for in the United States.

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 | [Congenital Heart Surgeon](https://nuecareer.com/careers/congenital-heart-surgeon) | $559,030 | +2.0% | Doctorate |
| 2 | [Mohs Surgeon](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mohs-surgeon) | $328,730 | +6.8% | Doctorate |
| 3 | [Aerospace Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-medicine-physician) | $265,930 | +3.4% | Doctorate |
| 4 | [Interventional Gastroenterologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/interventional-gastroenterologist) | $256,560 | +4.0% | Doctorate |
| 5 | [Chief Restructuring Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chief-restructuring-officer) | $213,990 | +3.2% | Bachelor's |
| 6 | [Public Company Board Director](https://nuecareer.com/careers/public-company-board-director) | $213,990 | +3.2% | Bachelor's |
| 7 | [Forensic Odontologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forensic-odontologist) | $170,950 | +5.7% | Doctorate |
| 8 | [Family Office Director](https://nuecareer.com/careers/family-office-director) | $166,570 | +9.7% | Bachelor's |
| 9 | [Public Pension Chief Investment Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/public-pension-chief-investment-officer) | $166,570 | +9.7% | Bachelor's |
| 10 | [Design Verification Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/design-verification-engineer) | $161,740 | +9.1% | Bachelor's |
| 11 | [Litigation Finance Underwriter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/litigation-finance-underwriter) | $159,670 | +4.7% | Doctorate |
| 12 | [Federal Judge](https://nuecareer.com/careers/federal-judge) | $153,990 | +2.8% | Doctorate |
| 13 | [State Supreme Court Justice](https://nuecareer.com/careers/state-supreme-court-justice) | $153,990 | +2.8% | Doctorate |
| 14 | [Medical Dosimetrist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-dosimetrist) | $147,470 | +5.0% | Bachelor's |
| 15 | [Nuclear Pharmacist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-pharmacist) | $140,910 | +5.2% | Doctorate |
| 16 | [Veterinary Pharmacist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-pharmacist) | $140,910 | +5.2% | Doctorate |
| 17 | [AI Safety Researcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ai-safety-researcher) | $140,300 | +21.8% | Master's |
| 18 | [Quantum Computing Researcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/quantum-computing-researcher) | $140,300 | +21.8% | Doctorate |
| 19 | [GPU Kernel Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gpu-kernel-engineer) | $135,980 | +10.2% | Bachelor's |
| 20 | [ML Compiler Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ml-compiler-engineer) | $135,980 | +10.2% | Bachelor's |
| 21 | [ML Inference Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ml-inference-engineer) | $135,980 | +10.2% | Bachelor's |
| 22 | [Astrodynamics Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/astrodynamics-engineer) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 23 | [Astronaut](https://nuecareer.com/careers/astronaut) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Master's |
| 24 | [Spacecraft Flight Controller](https://nuecareer.com/careers/spacecraft-flight-controller) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 25 | [Spacecraft Thermal Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/spacecraft-thermal-engineer) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 26 | [Fusion Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fusion-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's |
| 27 | [Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-criticality-safety-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's |
| 28 | [Nuclear Decommissioning Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-decommissioning-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's |
| 29 | [Nuclear Fuel Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-fuel-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's |
| 30 | [FPGA Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fpga-engineer) | $130,220 | +3.7% | Bachelor's |
| 31 | [Satellite Communications Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/satellite-communications-engineer) | $130,220 | +3.7% | Bachelor's |
| 32 | [Laboratory Animal Veterinarian](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laboratory-animal-veterinarian) | $130,100 | +9.4% | Doctorate |
| 33 | [Veterinary Anesthesiologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-anesthesiologist) | $130,100 | +9.4% | Doctorate |
| 34 | [Veterinary Behaviorist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-behaviorist) | $130,100 | +9.4% | Doctorate |
| 35 | [Veterinary Dentist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-dentist) | $130,100 | +9.4% | Doctorate |
| 36 | [Veterinary Ophthalmologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-ophthalmologist) | $130,100 | +9.4% | Doctorate |
| 37 | [Pension Actuary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pension-actuary) | $130,000 | +9.2% | Bachelor's |
| 38 | [AI Red Teamer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ai-red-teamer) | $129,180 | +21.0% | Bachelor's |
| 39 | [Turnaround Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/turnaround-manager) | $126,060 | +2.6% | Bachelor's |
| 40 | [Developer Advocate](https://nuecareer.com/careers/developer-advocate) | $124,900 | +2.8% | Bachelor's |
| 41 | [eVTOL Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/evtol-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 42 | [Flight Inspection Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-inspection-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 43 | [Fractional Jet Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fractional-jet-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 44 | [Test Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/test-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Bachelor's |
| 45 | [Lithography Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lithography-engineer) | $122,930 | +3.7% | Bachelor's |
| 46 | [Nanosystems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nanosystems-engineer) | $122,930 | +3.7% | Bachelor's |
| 47 | [Senior Reactor Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/senior-reactor-operator) | $122,890 | -5.9% | High school |
| 48 | [Grid Interconnection Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grid-interconnection-engineer) | $120,630 | +9.9% | Bachelor's |

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/weird-jobs