Every job on this list pays more than $90,000 a year, close to double what the typical American job pays. If you’re earning well under that typical number right now, $90,000 can read like it belongs to a different kind of person. It doesn’t. These are the wages of regular, everyday people working in skilled roles that take two to four years to train for. If you think you can make the commitment to learn (even part time), then this is well within your reach.
None of them require you to be 22. Most of the degrees behind them can be started online while you keep working, and a few can be finished in two years.
A note on the numbers before we get into them. Every figure here is the median annual wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2024 data, the most recent full set in their Occupational Outlook Handbook. Median means half the people in that job earn more and half earn less. For scale, the median across all jobs was $49,500. Salary lists online have a habit of running on numbers from 2019. These aren’t those.
Dental hygienist – $94,260
Typical path: an associate degree, then a state license.
Hygienists do the cleanings, the X-rays, the screening work that happens before the dentist walks in. What makes the job unusual among high earners is the schedule. Plenty of hygienists work three or four days a week, which matters when you have a household to run.
The honest part. Programs include clinical hours you do in person, and community college hygiene programs can be competitive to get into. Apply to more than one.
Registered nurse – $93,600
Typical path: a two-year associate degree in nursing, then the NCLEX licensing exam. A bachelor’s (BSN) opens more doors, and hospitals increasingly prefer it.
If I were starting over in my thirties and wanted the surest bet on this page, this is where I’d look first. Nursing demand exists in every city and every shift pattern, which is worth a lot when you’re scheduling around kids or a day job. If you already work in healthcare, RN-to-BSN programs run mostly online.
Clinicals happen in person. There’s no way around that, and any program that says otherwise is one to avoid.
Radiation therapist – $101,990
Typical path: an associate degree plus certification, which in most states means the ARRT exam.
Radiation therapists deliver the treatments that oncologists plan for cancer patients. Six figures on a two-year degree barely exists anywhere else in the economy.
Now the downside. It’s a small field with far fewer openings than nursing. Before committing to a program, look up how many radiation therapy jobs have been posted near you in the last few months. If the answer is two, budget for a move along with the degree.
Web developer – $90,930
Typical path: the BLS lists a bachelor’s as typical, and plenty of working developers got hired with an associate degree or a certificate plus a portfolio of sites they built.
This field cares about what you can show more than where you learned it. That cuts both ways. The degree helps you get past resume filters, and the portfolio gets you the interview. Entry-level tech hiring has cooled from its 2021 peak, so the portfolio matters more than it used to. On the plus side, this is the most remote-friendly job on the list.
Information security analyst – $124,910
Typical path: a bachelor’s in cybersecurity or IT, and most postings want a few years of general IT experience first.
Almost nobody gets hired into this straight out of a program. If you’re doing IT support or network administration right now, a cybersecurity degree is the classic move up, and it’s one of the few six-figure roles where the demand projections stay strong year after year. If you’re not in tech at all, plan on the degree plus a stretch in a general IT role before the analyst title arrives.
Software developer – $133,080
Typical path: a bachelor’s, usually in computer science or software engineering.
The biggest number on the page and the most crowded door. AI tools have changed what employers expect from junior developers, and the entry-level market is more demanding than it was five years ago. Development still sits among the larger and faster-growing fields in the projections, and people who like building things tend to do fine over a career. But if you’re chasing the number alone and don’t care what the work is, nursing is the safer version of this bet.
What to do with this list if you’re not 18
Three moves before you pick a program.
Check the license rules in your state first, not after. Nursing, dental hygiene, and radiation therapy all run through state boards, and requirements differ.
Ask every school you talk to how many of your old credits transfer. The answer varies wildly between schools, and the right answer can cut a year off your timeline. If you have credits from a college you attended years ago, they may still count.
Then run the math on the gap. A program that costs $15,000 and moves you from the national median to any number on this page pays for itself inside the first year of the raise. Your numbers will differ. Run yours.
