40 Top-Paying Blue Collar Jobs

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/3x/ar5c5cj6fbhjhm4rhc3x.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/3x/ar5c5cj6fbhjhm4rhc3x.gif" /></a><br /></div>If you turn on the TV, you're probably going to see a character who has one of the following jobs: lawyer, doctor, criminal investigator or generic business professional that requires wearing a suit.<br /><br />Not that we don't love those jobs (and those shows), but the media in general seems to forget about the millions of workers who are in other professions. To give some coverage to other occupations, we decided to highlight 40 professions that are in one of these industries: construction, maintenance, operations, production and material handling. These careers are typically considered blue collar jobs and are some of the top-earning in each field.<br /><br />Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and CBSalary.com, here are 40 top-paying blue collar jobs and their mean annual salaries:<br /><br />1. Aircraft mechanics: $54,506<br />2. Aircraft service technicians: $41,604<br />3. Boilermakers: $50,091<br />4. Brickmasons: $48,439<br />5. Carpet installers: $42,682<br />6. Chemical plant and system operators: $51,464<br />7. Construction and building inspectors: $51,815<br />8. Electricians: $55,188<br />9. Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation and equipment: $44,450<br />10. Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment: $49,260<br />11. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse substation and relay: $60,700<br />12. Elevator installers and repairers: $66,642<br />13. First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers: $61,280<br />14. First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers and repairers: $59,160<br />15. First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators: $53,960<br />16. Gas plant operators: $64,608<br />17. Line installers and repairers: $54,300<br />18. Locomotive engineers: $70,116<br />19. Machinists: $49,626<br />20. Millwrights: $54,969<br />21. Mining machine operators: $45,570<br />22. Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines: $44,300<br />23. Model maker, metal and plastic: $44,700<br />24. Nuclear power reactor operators: $73,510<br />25. Numerical tool and process control programmers: $46,360<br />26. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators and gaugers: $54,950<br />27. Power distributors and dispatchers: $58,401<br />28. Power plant operators: $74,061<br />29. Plumbers: $49,169<br />30. Radio and telecommunications equipment installers and repairers: $52,650<br />31. Rail car repairers: $44,981<br />32. Railroad brake, signal and switch operators: $49,400<br />33. Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators: $44,870<br />34. Ship and boat captains and operators: $67,730<br />35. Ship engineers: $50,754<br />36. Stationary engineers and boiler operators: $50,098<br />37. Structural iron and steel workers: $47,170<br />38. Subway and streetcar operators: $55,318<br />39. Tool and die makers: $48,180<br />40. Transportation inspectors: $46,984<br /><br />By Anthony Balderrama writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/abalderrama.<br /><br /><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=rockfordlink"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" width="125" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=rockfordlink" type="text/javascript"></script>

40 Top-Paying Blue Collar Jobs

If you turn on the TV, you're probably going to see a character who has one of the following jobs: lawyer, doctor, criminal investigator...

Read more »