:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2032134544-85bb0cd852ec42b09000241ef4e1ac9b.jpg "No Degree? No Problem. The Top 10 Jobs That Do Not Require a Formal Education Certificate")
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Occupations that don’t require a formal education certificate generally have more positions available than jobs that require more education.
- However, the top-paying job on the list, laborers and freight movers, pays $38,940, compared with the national median annual salary of $49,500.
Fast food and counter workers will have more job openings than any other occupation in the U.S. economy over the next decade—about 904,300 each year through 2034, according to new projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Below, we take you through the jobs that make the BLS list of top 10 jobs with the most expected openings through 2034 that don’t require any formal education, as well as their corresponding pay.
Why This Matters
Approximately one in 10 Americans aged 25 and older has not attained a high school diploma or its equivalent, according to the Census Bureau. For these types of workers, there are numerous job options, some of which have more openings than any other occupation across all education levels.
As of last year, the median annual wage for fast food and counter workers was $30,480—well below the $49,500 median for all occupations. But according to the BLS, these jobs reward customer service skills, adaptability, and attention to detail—and most offer on-the-job training of a month or less.
Retail salespeople and cashiers round out the top three, with each expected to have about 500,000 openings annually. The rest of the list includes stockers and order fillers, waiters and waitresses, freight laborers, janitors, restaurant cooks, maids and housekeeping cleaners, and landscaping workers.
Together, these occupations account for about seven out of 10 job openings at this education level.
Most of these jobs don’t require prior work experience—you learn on the job. Restaurant cooks are among the exceptions, since they typically need a few years of kitchen experience before moving into the role, and training takes longer than most other positions on the list.
Of the top 10 jobs expected to have the most openings in this category, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest median income at $38,940 a year.
Landscaping/groundskeeping workers and stockers/order fillers rank second and third, respectively, for the highest annual median income for jobs that do not require a degree and make the list of having the most expected openings this coming decade.
