Highest Paying Trade Jobs No One’s Talking About (2024) 

I started a gutter cleaning business when I got out of the military. In just a couple of years I was able to buy a new truck, a large piece of property and build a house. The only downside was that it was seasonal and predicated on weather. After 10 years, I had my regular customers, and I no longer had to advertize as all new customers was word of mouth.

At 2:51 mark: $3,500 x 52 does NOT equal "over $1,000,000." It does equal $180,000 which is only 18% of 1,000,000! $3,500 per DAY does equal more than $1,000,000 per year but it is grossly (pun intended) unrealistic to predicate a revenue stream on working 365 days per year.

You forgot about administrative costs such as bookings, bookkeeping & the capital depreciation of equipment.

I have a family member who works on wind turbines. He makes a ton, lives in his truck for the most part and savesaround 95% of his money (he has to travel a lot). He will work 10 years then be set for life retired by 30ish. Not too shabby.

I watched this from end to end. Your start up costs are ridiculously low, trucks insurance tools permits labor costs are grossly underestimated! I retired as a Master Electrician with my own business for many years. You don’t just call someone and get a contract ,do the job , and get paid right away. The bigger the job the longer the payment time. And all those recession years when there is less work and more competition can be killers. It took me 8000 hours and 5 years before I could take an all day test for my journeyman license , than another 4 years before I could take my Masters test. I was lucky in that I worked for a company owner who wanted to retire so I bought his business from him. Another 10 years and I owned it free and clear. I saw a lot of people start trade businesses and fail,loose a lot of money when they miscalculated the cost of a job, and lot everything they had worked for. Sometimes it is better to work for someone else and have a normal life with a large paycheck than to be your own boss.

Boilermakers are working in power plants, refineries, chemical plants, etc not putting furnaces in houses. It is hugely equipment intensive and not easily entered into as a small business. Living on the road can take a huge chunk out of your take home pay.

I'm favoured, Getting my own Truck has always been my Dream for my business. I just acquired 2 recently, earning $32K weekly has been really helpful. I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support Charity Organizations. I really appreciate your videos Codie

My neighbor was a millionaire and I asked her how.. she said her dad owned a construction business and left it to her when he got sick. Then she ran it.

people never stop crapping. its a fact

I'm an owner operated pool service and repair company and I net 210k on 35 hours a week with no employees. It's hard on my knees and shoulders and it's hot as balls outside when 115F but it's an easy stress free life.

My advice before jumping into any of these businesses is to call up the owners and ask them with their biggest problem is because I am currently doing that now with the septic guys and they're saying that keeping good guys and finding them is a nightmare as well as the insurance and the liability for the toilets when people use them for things like construction sites and gas stations

I used to be part owner of a daycare in Miami, which I sold my shares entirely to my partner (and sister-in-law) and now she is sole owner and is banking. Good recurring revenue. Great business for women.

Reality - Cut the salaries she mentions in half due to real world situations like competition, unexpected risk & expenses, Murphy's law, breakage, taxes, legal issues, economy, etc.

Unfortunately, not all of us were financially literate early. I was 35 when I finally educated myself and started taking steps. I went from $176,000 in debt with zero savings or retirement to now, 2 years later, fully debt-free and over $1000,000 net worth. I know that doesn't SOUND like a lot, but I'm incredibly proud of it. Now I'm fast-tracking my wealth building (investing $400,000 annually) and don't owe a dime to anyone. It's a good feeling!

Where the heck are you for a 700-900 tank pump? I just got mine done 3 weeks ago and it was 270 for a 1,000gal. I called multiple other places and it was 270-320.

Location is a big factor… we just had our septic tank emptied. There was only one in the area (we’re very rural) he was out there within the week and it cost us 250$.

I think she meant $3500 a day but no one proof read before they hit SEND anymore. But I was always told to estimate conservatively so that you are prepared. So $2800 (4x $700) a day minus $1400 for gas and other expenses gets you $1400 a day x 5 days is $7k. $7k x 50 weeks equals $350k a year once you get going is pretty good, even if you are dealing w S H every day. Buy yourself a truck every year for the next 4 years and you be in the million area. But that's at least a 5 year plan if not 10. Edit: I checked around for prices in the Philadelphia area and it's about $325 forthe service (up 1500 gallons of waste). So if you are doing 5 a day, it's only a lil over $1600. Subtracting gas, truck maintenance, and the dumping fee and you won't have much left. Unless those fees are also overly exaggerated, you aren't making much at all.

Let’s correct her math on the septic truck: Triple the fuel cost Triple the insurance cost Add in the cost of the truck, truck maintenance, additional government taxes for operating the truck, and consumables, and you’re left with MAYBE $150-$200,000 if you are efficient and not sloppy with how you run the business. Additional note: pretty sure you aren’t allowed to empty grease traps with a sewage truck, not that a sewage truck couldn’t handle the job, but I could be wrong.

There is a misconception out there about technicians. They are born with the unique talent that gives them the ability to perform nearly all technician work. A similar person would be a music artist, who is born with the musical talent to produce very good music. Plain humans cannot be trained to be technicians, the work will overstress their minds and they will eventually return to plain human work.

I like double dipping; run a diesel repair place and have them fix all your fleet trucks for your light swap business. Then open a carwash to keep the trucks clean. :p

You really underestimated the costs of materials and equipment for the basement jobs. It’s also exhausting work, so 6 days a week would not be sustainable. You would have to scale up and hire employees to do a lot of the work. Sure you can do that 5 days a week in your 20s, but then your back and knees gives out in your 30s. By your 50s it’s all surgery: shoulders, back, knees.

Codie, can you interview Elena Stein?

I’m a diesel tech and I don’t like doing it even though it calms me down 🤣🤣🤣

Love the realistic way that you break this down with revenue and expenses, that's real world stuff. And this is exactly how I started my business.

I actually looked into septic pumping. They trucks are expensive so you need to include their purchase cost and maintenance and repairs. In our market pumping is going for $500-600 and there are 3 or 4 companies doing it. We also have a shortage of truck drivers since the Lahiana fire, so finding drivers is almost impossible, especially for a shitty job.

Everyone needs to go to business school. The difference between being a wrecker driver and owning a fleet of wreckers is decimal places in terms of income. Think about it.

HVAC Technician is another very profitable business

My three favorite channels: Codie Sanchez, Stock Brotha, & How Money Works. Make my week complete! 🔥 🔥 🔥

I wish I heard all this before I had to choose my path back in '90. Nevertheless, this advice is gold!

A good friend from hs took over his dad's septic tank business and he makes loads of money.

Trades make money. But the price is the work it can do to your body. Just a con to the pro

Minute 2:52: 3,5*52=182k, I think you meant 3,5 a day => 3,5*360 > 1 Mio $

Basement waterproofing is super labor intensive!!

Elevator & Escalator mechanic pays really really good

Possible to create a video on Digital Products, please? i.e. if there is any demand, different types of digital products that have demand, platforms to sell on, revenue etc.

Amazing video, you work for 40yrs to have $1M in your retirement, meanwhile some people are putting just $10K into trading from just few months ago and now they are multimillionaires

From $9K to $35K that's the minimum range of profit return every week I thinks it's not a bad one for me despite the market fluctuations

One good career is auto paint booth installer, repairer and cleaner. I know someone who did that and they would call him from several states away because there is only like one or two other people who do it in that region of the country. He recently retired. So, it' s pretty open now. No one has this experience.

I reached 250 thousand dollars invested, it took me 2 years, last month I received 30 thousand only in dividends. Only with believers. This month it will be 40,000 and so on, in the next few years it will be 500 thousand in the year alone in Bitcoin ETFs and other dividend yields. What took me 2 years to invest, I will have in 1 year

I am making 500 a day - 6 days a week, 10hrs a day. And if I work on holidays, I get double. And if I work 6 days 2 weeks straight, my company pays me 1200 as bonus. CDL No high school diploma Uniforms included No hazmat, Tankers only

2:53 -- 5 Septic Tank Pumpouts/Day = $3500/week X 52 weeks = "over a $million in revenue/year" WRONG! That equals $182,000/year. What you really mean is $3500/DAY (not per week). And, in my area of central FL, they charge $300 per pumpout, not $700.

Who gives you guys the scrips for these videos?? I literally just watched a dude yesterday giving the same speech. Is this something the government wants to push for?? Or they stole your video or viceversa?? I’m confused.

I'm favoured, $22K every week! I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support God's work and the church. God bless America,,

Did you get a quote on that porta potty insurance? It’s more than auto insurance for $100, it requires general liability and also workman’s comp if you are staffing that many dumps.

I honestly can listen to you for hours daily and never bother watching sports events. You seem to teach me something new on all your videos even if I don't have any attention of operating any of these business. By the way I used to own rentals and did all the remodeling and maintenance by myselve by buying my own pressure washer and heavy duty electric snake to unclog my rentals sewer instead waiting for Roto Rooter for a whole day to show up late and give me an invoice of $500 or more.

I work in healthcare (Radiology) with multiple certifications and I.T. With multiple certifications and earn well in excess of $200k/year and recently started taking old decommissioned PCs and updating them and selling as gaming PCs etc which if I devote a significant portion of my free time to can gross me well over 100k/year on the low end Trades will always dominate the economy, tangible skills can’t be outsourced

Afford to put up a good size building and not pay rent in a busy area a laundromat if there’s not any nice laundromats in the area if you put in a nice laundromat, you can turn a shit ton of money out of the laundromat, but the machines in the building are huge startup cost expenses. But if someone rolled into enough money to get started, it would be a cash cow. You can hire a few employees to maintain the building and put in a surveillance system. The employees could even do peoples clothes for them like a fluff and fold set up for extra income.

my daughter is a millwright and she does make lots of money. She works for a union and they get the jobs and sends her out to each .She has no start up cost as the union paid for her to go to school, she got the first year of schooling while she was in highschool through our school district program . Many of the jobs let you keep the tools at the end of the job and they supply the tools.This is in Canada and may work different in other countries. She could definitly start her own business once she is ready.

Love this vid. Being an OTR truck driver I had no idea about the septic tank business. I could do that in my sleep. Also had no idea you could make that much money being local like that. I might look into septic tank here in Tuscaloosa AL.

Legit bussines ideas and not something complicated !!

Hi there, could you please make a video about indoor playgrounds etc...? I really could use some ideas and opinions. Thank you.

Every time you find different jobs make people's life easier and to make more money You are such an incredible person Thank you madam xx

There is also communication Tower tech. Somebody has to climb that thousand foot Tower to change light bulbs.

Heres a tip. States are changing their rules and are included small equipment in yearly safety inspections. There millions of pieces of quipement that has never been mandatory

0:59 - Septic huh? I turned around and sold a septic business 20 years ago. There are a few - lets say issues - with it. First, Hiring is a PITA - nobody with options wants to play with S**T all day. You'll get to know the local parole officers when they check in to make sure your employees are actually showing up to work.. Second, when you try and scale it you have the problem that the guy that arrives at the door, sizes up the job, does the work and collects the money is the same guy in the same step. What starts to happen is "give me a check for a service call and pay me cash for the rest", or they'll knock on all the neighbors doors and "I'm here doing your neighbors tank, I'll do yours half off cash." and they'll get three or four people in the neighborhood and come back to the shop with a song and dance about how the one job took 4 hours because "oh It took me ages to find the lid, and then it was cracked, and then blah blah blah". The trick they use to make that work is they suck out the solids and then decant the liquid back into the system so they come back to the shop with the right about of waste, or just pull off somewhere and illegally dump it in the woods or something which now your brand and company is liable for. You'll notice one truck the guys digging it out way more often than the others, if you're not looking for it that's the first clue. Third - Customers DO NOT want to pay for this. When there's S**t in their shower they phone you, because they're desperate, but in their mind the toilet is just supposed to work so then they bitch about everything, the price, you're lying to them about what needed to be done, etc... and they'll do things like give you a check and then cancel payment on it banking you won't cash it before 1PM that day so you have to chase them to try and get paid. All because you're selling something that they don't want to buy. All that adds up to a business that can't scale beyond your ability to hover around and keep them honest. 9:00 - oh yeah, the workers comp rates suck as well. I was about 50%. That and, I forgot, the employee turn over rate was second only to restaurant dish washers - about 35% churn a year 16:54 - oh yeah, and you need to have a state certified septic contractor as a director of the operating company. Which will take your about 3-4 years to get on your own between the experience requirements, testing, and getting someone certified to sign off on everything to submit the application. Make sure to be friends with a few of them 20:00 - Your numbers on the septic company didn't look that off to me. My dispatcher used to set up the pump outs as they came in that day between the 3 trucks I had and it was pretty rare we had to push people off into the next day. 4-5 pump outs an 8 hour day was pretty normal when you're well organized and have a truck already in that end of the county. I'm guessing the price has gone up in 2 decades - it seems like a lot to me, we charged $105 for a service call and $185 for a pump out. But it's also very regional, and you'll price to some degree is limited to what the market in that area will bare.

Codie I would love to have you on my podcast. We shoot live outside of Dallas…

I work with plumbers who make 5 to 10 grand a week. They work hard and I wouldn't want to do it, but if you've got the drive you can make good money as a plumber...

Good information from a business perspective. Some of the jobs you are describing are not skilled trades. As far as skilled trades you are downplaying the most important part which is training and experience. You should have done more research on the training requirements. A millwright apprenticeship is not a 3 or 4 years as you said. The biggest part of any skilled trades is the experience. One of the reasons there is such high demand for skilled trades is good majority of the current workers are retiring. Even if younger people showed interest it will be at least 5 years before any would have the experience required to run their own company.

Semi rural Ohio a septic tank pumping is about $250

@Codie If your staff goes through these comments and revise this video then you may very well create some good options for people looking for a change of career or business to start! These jobs need good, honest people and they'd have a great source of referrals!!!

Thank you for all these content you upload

The video is a nice thought exercise and it gets people thinking. That being said there were some pretty critical costs/facts omitted. A sewer pumping truck, and im talking a very basic tandem axle truck, new will cost at least $350k once upfitted with tank, pumps, hydraulics, and other necessites. You would likely need to get a new truck as pumping businesses i know all run their trucks "full life", meaning until unusable. The maintenance on those trucks is quite up and down, can be pretty static over a term but can spike quite high when pumps/hydraulics need repair/ replacement. The light repair/install business will need expensive trucks as well. Thise boom trucks can be found used wuite easily though. The insurance for any business where you are sticking booms up in the air, especially with guys in buckets, can be staggeringly expensive. These are things that should have been at least spoken about but im guessing the video would be hours long if you explain everything.

We Are in Unchartered Financial Waters! every day we encounter challenges that have become the new standard. Although we previously perceived it as a crisis, we now acknowledge it as the new normal and must adapt accordingly. Given the current economic difficulties that the country is experiencing in 2024, how can we enhance our earnings during this period of adjustment? I cannot let my $680,000 savings vanish after putting in so much effort to accumulate them.

Start early with diversified investments in Bitcoin, stocks, bonds, and real estate. Maximize contributions to tax-advantaged accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs. Regularly review and adjust your strategy to ensure security.

For me the septic tank business Stinks -:) And $3500 times 52 weeks is $182,000. Is my calculator broken ? WTF ?

Absolutely great video - but one criticism. You are not including all expenses - like G&A and other miscellaneous items. Virtually any business that earns $500K to $1 million annually will have a host of fees to office expenses, support, licenses, marketing, etc.. There is also continuing education, tools, etc..

One trade that people don’t know about is Generator Technician. There are a lot of generators in the world. It’s part mechanical and electrical and very technical. Pay is good and work in plentiful. Every generator service company is always looking for techs.

I discovered you from a tik tok...you were telling the story about hanging with a wealthy friend who asked you how much money you have right now...I was instantly impressed with you and the way you have the heart of a teacher. I want the Codie Sanchez "brain dump". Where should I start with your videos or books or...

Fail 👎….. didn’t mention freelance Masonry contractors . Lowest overhead and liability with highest revenue, work when you want .

These dirty jobs get overlooked they can make people lots of money.

There’s s heck of an investment and expenses that you are forgetting.

Ive stuck with the highly skilled trade jobs and careers and stay open minded and make moves when necessary....Drilling , Aviation , Welding , Diesel Things , never hurts to keep a CDL etc . I have Never been laid off or broke and never work inless the Job pays per Diem. And non of that spend your own money and we will pay you back kinda stuff ....Just a strait Guaranteed per diem. Tax free that is .

Thank you for promoting the trades. Education is great, but there needs to be a clear objective in order to make adequate use of and general satisfaction with a degree. I've known a number of people who had degrees from such places as MIT going on to careers that were completely different from the education they received and often in relatively low paying jobs. I've also known many people who were quite successful with only two year technical programs to seek employment. And there are many opportunities even without certificates. Do yourself a favor and research potential career paths as much as possible. Even talk to people in the areas of interest to ask what it's like. Also ask yourself about preferences regarding relative comfort in various careers. Answer honestly. Are you ok with outdoor work where you will be subject to poor weather conditions? Are you willing to be on call? Are you squeamish in any way? Are you willing to live with certain unpleasantnesses such as odor, including some that you'll go home with? There are many other factors, but those questions are a good starting point. Best wishes with your planning and hopeful success.

I just discovered this channel and feel like I just gained a super power

The Street Lights job looks like a job I would do.

Hey Cody, I am a welder. I look up a lot of videos on mobile welders that do small jobs, they aren’t thorough on their perspective nor break it down how you did in this video. Maybe do a video for us Ironworkers/mobile welders.??? 👍🏽

These are very tough jobs and these guys deserve every penny running these businesses and doing these jobs. I wished I could make the same comment about your RU-vid job

I may be facing a (not unpleasant) career change in the near future and learning a new trade may be in my future. Ty for giving me options to consider!

I love people who have never done trade work doing math about trade work. First of all, you don't average 5 jobs a day, 5-7 days a week. You have jobs that take on lives of their own due to location, conditions, etc. Second, weather and breakdowns occur. Third, if the demand was that consistent, there would/will be other people showing up. Fourth, even if the work is there, you still have to have the qualified people to do said work. As someone who has been in HVAC, Electric and Plumbing service and management, we have had to devote more time to recruiting and training than acquiring the work since around 2000. There is a reason for all that backlog of work out there. There aren't enough technical people. Just saying to arbitrarily train people is a flippant statement. We pay very good money in the service trades and still cannot get people interested in them because they are hard work and require long hours in peak times. All of this makes these great ideas suffer. I am not even going to mention the plucking numbers on job costs and insurance out of the air.

Oil and gas jobs pay the most some 6 figure jobs. I&E tech,automation techs,Electrican and PLC programmers. I do one of these trades.

Hmmm $3,850x261 = $1M. 261 is the typical work days per year in the US. If you want to Gross $1M/a find a way to make $3,850 a day.

So, not sure where you live, but my 1500 gal tank is roughly $300 for a pump out. And I can get on the calendar for the next week.

These are great! ❤ If anything it gives ppl a realization that there are soooo many more jobs/businesses out there then what is proposed in school.

If I had to give a young man or woman advice for a high income, low schooling cost job, it would be pipeline welder. Paid for my son to go to an 8 month welding school (Tulsa) that cost $21,000. He bought a used RV for $10,000 so he could pay it off quickly, then pocket his per diem (tax free) income of $125-$150 per day. He already had used Dodge dually, so we bought a welding bed and welder for another $10,000. His typical pay is $42 / hr, plus truck pay of $18/ hr, plus on the low end, $125 per diem per day. 10 hour days so he makes $600 pay plus $125 a day ($725) if they dont work overtime, but they always do, so that time and a half. His typical weekly pay is $5,000 with about 1/5th being tax free. There are very few professions where you can make $200,000 a year with minimum schooling. If you aren't afraid of working outside in the heat and cold, you can do this job. He paid off his RV, bought a $60,000 RV, paid that off, paid off his truck and welder in 2 years. My son is now entering his 4th year of welding, and saving to pay cash for a $300,000 house.

Regarding the septic service: I didn’t hear anything about the cost of the pump truck (granted, I was LISTENING, and not watching, so maybe the “car” was the truck). I would imagine that the pump truck would be >$150k to acquire, which would be, maybe $36-40k/yr, depending on down payment and other parameters. Like I said, maybe I missed the graphic that showed this.

I don't see that math working! $3500 x 52 weeks = $182,000 You actually meant, $3500 Daily! x 365 = $1,277,500 What does it cost to Dispose of that waste? (Time and Money?) (Minus) - $436,000 yearly = $841,500 net for the business. Then normal business expenses, like that dispatcher, bookkeeping, lawyer, CPA, Office space, Utilities, etc., etc., Truck upkeep and loan payments, Est. = Net for owner = $200,000 yearly - not bad at all.

Deep sea welder, oil rig worker, lighthouse bulb changer................

Love your business owning ideas, Ms. Sanchez. Can you give me a run down of owning a storage facility business (annual cost and profits).

Most if not all of the jobs you mention really suck to do - especially elevator tech. I have worked on a number of new construction buildings, and those elevator techs work their asses off. They all look filthy and totally milked every day. My dad and my father in law were mechanics. They were both drunks. It's not just about money. If your work life sucks, you home life is likely to suck too because you are miserable every day. That's why construction guys are drunks - it's grueling work. The best job in America right now? A congressman or senator. You dress up in your monkey suit every day, sit in committee meetings on your ass, your staff does all the work, and you make $175k plus perks and a nice pension. Stop pumping sh!t boys, run for office, and start shoveling it to the public. Having said that Cody is performing an important service bringing these businesses to our attention. Just don't think it's all roses and balance sheets. Someone actually has to sweat to make any one of those jobs happen.

I live in Florida and called to get my septic tank pumped. They came out in just a few days at around $400 to pump a 1200 gallon system.

I think you missed on the list of costs, the start up cost, including the time and cost of learning each trade

I'm sure glad I live in New Mexico. The average pump around the ABQ area is $250, for up to 1,400gal.

Do one on dump truck owner operators please ?

I would love to see you breakdown virtual (non) manual labor jobs or businesses that we could start. ❤

Did u know that when welders are contracted to weld underwater for the pentagon somewhere in the ocean. They kill the welder after his done welding so information of locations never gets out. Well that’s what I was told when I graduated from welding school.

Wrong math at 2:50 septic truck. It's about $3500 per Day, about $20K per week. Wow.

Diesel mechanics are in short supply. Skilled guys with tools are charging $125-150 per hour. You would have to pay at least 100K or more to get anyone good. All of the good guys run their own trucks. We have a mechanic and we also hire out.

I need to watch this later. I'm eating.

Tools and equipment are tax deductible🎉

That's why everyone is a stay at home, work from home RU-vid content creators. These business ideas are completely unobtainable for 99% of the population to even start with the basic startup capital. Let alone most are simply struggling to just make ends meet or eat and pay rent.