5 Great Careers That Don't Require College Degrees

Many people assume that not having a college degree limits your career prospects significantly—but that’s not really true. It is true that you’ll need a degree to break into certain fields, but there are quite a few career paths that are in-demand that don’t require a college education (and they’re not all in sales). Whether you went to college but didn’t finish, or never went at all—here are 5 careers with strong earning potential that don’t require college degrees:

Real Estate: It’s relatively easy to take a stab at real estate. You must pass the licensing exam in your state, choose a brokerage firm to work with, and join the National Association of Realtors—but aside from that it’s a pretty straightforward career to start, especially if you know someone in the industry who can let you shadow them and act as a mentor—which is a key factor in getting off to a strong start. Your salary will vary a lot depending on your location and how hard you want to work, but the earning potential is high overall.

Insurance: Careers in insurance are underrated. It’s a stable industry that’s pretty recession proof and there are a lot of careers within the insurance umbrella that don’t require college degrees. You can become an agent who sells insurance to individuals (like car insurance). Or, you can work for an insurance carrier and evaluate claims that come in from natural disasters (like hurricanes) or accidents (like fires). Similarly, you can become an underwriter who evaluates a risk to see if it is something the insurance company can afford to insure (like a $1 Million yacht). Average salaries for agents have a big range depending on the size of your agency and whether you start a book of business from scratch or buy a larger book from someone else. Adjusters can earn anywhere from around $40,000 to $80,000 depending on the insurance niche. Underwriters typically earn from around $50,000 to $100,000 depending on their level of experience and authority.

Web Developer: Coding and web development skills are always in demand. Many of the skills can be self-taught, but you’ll still probably want to take some online courses or tutorials and join some local tech groups to make sure you’re up-to-date on the latest tools, knowledge, and industry trends. Earning potential varies a lot depending on whether you work full time, or freelance. The average web developer earns around $50,000 to $70,000 per year in a full time role.

Plumber or Electrician: These fields usually require an apprenticeship and you must pass a licensing exam for your state, but both are stable careers that pay quite well. Plumbers typically earn an average of around $55,000 while electricians come in just above that at an average of around $60,000. If you’re highly specialized in a particular area the earning potential can be even higher.

Online Content Creator: This can range from something as simple as running a blog to falling more into the “Influencer” category and creating a YouTube channel or Instagram following that brings in ad revenue and partners with brands. You won’t make a lot initially, but if you find a niche audience and make consistent and high caliber content that targets a specific audience, you can become incredibly successful. Really good content creators make the job look easy—but don’t be fooled. It requires a lot of discipline, organization, and self-motivation to put out regular and fresh content while you slowly grow your audience. But if you’re passionate about it, you can make it happen!

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