Your current job may be saturated with excessive competition and meager income. If that’s the case, would you be interested in switching to a job that pays 2-3 times the usual salary and still has a severe shortage of workers?
High-Paying Jobs That Few People Are Keen On
Some of these jobs don’t even require a college degree; just a bit of skill and a readiness to face danger and hardship is all it takes to get hired! Let’s take a look at the list of 5 surprisingly high-paying jobs below to see if you have the courage to pursue them:
1. Crime Scene Cleaner
The annual income of a crime scene cleaner can reach six figures.
In cities with high crime rates, the annual income of a crime scene cleaner can reach six figures. Their primary job is to don protective gear and clean up after murders or meth labs.
To perform this job, you need exceptional endurance, as scrubbing blood off walls or picking up human remains from carpets (after investigators have removed larger body parts) will become your daily routine.
Crime scene cleaners are often called to sanitize locations of accidents, murders, suicides, or sites where decomposed bodies have been found, as well as illegal drug manufacturing facilities, restoring them to their original state. During their work, they may even discover hidden evidence that the police missed.
To complete the cleanup, professionals must undergo training, where they learn how to handle crime scenes involving murders, suicides, or accidents. They even have to practice cleaning up staged murder scenes before stepping into real situations.
The hardest part for these cleaners isn’t the blood-soaked scenes, the trash, or dealing with flies and maggots, but rather the smell of death at the crime scene. Moreover, since bodily fluids and blood can contain harmful bacteria like HIV, hepatitis, anthrax, and even Ebola virus, all of these pose health risks for months or years afterward.
2. Mine Manager
The average salary of a mine manager is around $160,000.
The average salary of a mine manager is approximately $160,000, according to PayScale. However, to earn this attractive salary, they also have to sacrifice their health, and sometimes even their lives. Working in a coal mine, one must anticipate the risks of inhaling toxic dust, gas leaks, and the possibility of mine collapses.
The statistic of 30 worker fatalities each year in the U.S. due to mining accidents shows that this is not an easy job at all. In less developed countries, workers often suffer from black lung disease and other rare respiratory illnesses due to working in extremely poor conditions without necessary protective gear.
3. Portable Toilet Rental
Eliza Kendall earns between $100,000 and $120,000 a year from her portable toilet rental business.
The portable toilet rental business brings Eliza Kendall an income of $100,000 to $120,000 a year, a salary enviable even by companies in the same field. The key to success comes from the idea of upgrading regular toilet booths to be more comfortable with light sensors and automatic deodorizing sprays.
These toilets are often rented for use at upscale parties and weddings, offering a significantly better option than old, odorous portable restrooms. However, no matter how glamorous they appear, you still have to deal with cramped toilet booths that retain waste without a place to flush right after a considerable number of people have used them, which isn’t much different from cheaper alternatives.
4. Podiatrist
A skilled podiatrist earns about $175,000 per year.
A skilled podiatrist earns about $175,000 a year. However, if the sight of oozing toes makes you cringe, this is definitely not the profession for you. Unlike nail technicians, who work with well-groomed feet in salons, podiatrists deal daily with cases of athlete’s foot, ulcers, and ingrown toenails.
Another significant barrier is the high cost of education in this field, with student loan interest rates much higher than those for other medical disciplines.
5. Alaska Crab Fisherman
Working conditions in the Arctic Ocean are extremely harsh.
In just 8 weeks, a fisherman can earn up to $50,000 by catching Alaska king crab. However, before considering pursuing this lucrative job, you need to understand the level of danger involved.
As described in the show The Deadliest Catch, the working conditions in the Arctic Ocean, where these crabs live, are extremely harsh. Working hours stretch to 20 hours a day at temperatures well below freezing, with rough seas that can push anyone to their limits.
Many have lost their lives in a year due to exhaustion or accidents falling overboard. The risk of broken limbs or getting caught in ropes and being thrown from slippery decks is very high, especially during winter with tumultuous seas that even seasoned fishermen fear.