Highest paying jobs you can train for in weeks
Short-term on-the-job training — typically a month or less to reach competence. Ranked by median pay. Wages are Bureau of Labor Statistics medians for May 2025; entry requirements come from the federal Employment Projections classification.
| Occupation | Median | Top 10% | Training | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $153,990 | $221,710 | Short-term on-the-job training | 24,030 |
| 2 Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | $117,860 | $207,480 | Short-term on-the-job training | 16,370 |
| 3 Technical Writers | $90,390 | $145,270 | Short-term on-the-job training | 45,500 |
| 4 Media and Communication Workers, All Other | $73,620 | $134,270 | Short-term on-the-job training | 19,590 |
| 5 Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers | $69,990 | $139,680 | Short-term on-the-job training | 311,180 |
| 6 Food Service Managers | $69,390 | $107,640 | Short-term on-the-job training | 238,430 |
| 7 Transportation Security Screeners | $66,770 | $78,350 | Short-term on-the-job training | 50,290 |
| 8 Postal Service Clerks | $62,130 | $75,030 | Short-term on-the-job training | 73,720 |
| 9 Postal Service Mail Carriers | $60,550 | $81,040 | Short-term on-the-job training | 328,820 |
| 10 Broadcast Technicians | $59,570 | $123,670 | Short-term on-the-job training | 21,110 |
| 11 Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | $58,640 | $79,380 | Short-term on-the-job training | 2,062,040 |
| 12 Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators | $58,470 | $75,280 | Short-term on-the-job training | 105,200 |
| 13 Audio and Video Technicians | $58,100 | $100,650 | Short-term on-the-job training | 70,230 |
| 14 Financial Clerks, All Other | $53,830 | $76,290 | Short-term on-the-job training | 36,260 |
| 15 Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers | $52,600 | $84,190 | Short-term on-the-job training | 19,780 |
| 16 Cargo and Freight Agents | $52,260 | $79,810 | Short-term on-the-job training | 97,670 |
| 17 Community Health Workers | $51,850 | $77,180 | Short-term on-the-job training | 61,660 |
| 18 Tree Trimmers and Pruners | $50,960 | $80,310 | Short-term on-the-job training | 55,160 |
| 19 Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics | $50,620 | $81,790 | Short-term on-the-job training | 704,640 |
| 20 Loan Interviewers and Clerks | $50,020 | $69,770 | Short-term on-the-job training | 164,790 |
| 21 Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors | $49,690 | $75,900 | Short-term on-the-job training | 147,240 |
| 22 Information and Record Clerks, All Other | $49,500 | $71,420 | Short-term on-the-job training | 134,920 |
| 23 Word Processors and Typists | $49,280 | $65,150 | Short-term on-the-job training | 35,010 |
| 24 Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall | $49,120 | $78,190 | Short-term on-the-job training | 44,440 |
| 25 Pipelayers | $49,000 | $80,170 | Short-term on-the-job training | 33,050 |
Reading this ranking
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates tops the list at $153,990. The midpoint of this ranking is $58,100, so the leader pays 165% more than a typical entry on it — a gap wide enough that the top row is better read as an outlier than as a realistic target.
25 of the 25 listed reach competence through short-term on-the-job training. That is the actual entry route for this group — the qualification is not what gets you in, the training is.
Pay inside a single occupation varies more than people expect. For judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates, the bottom tenth earn $46,950 and the top tenth $221,710 — 4.7× apart. A ranking like this shows the middle; the band is where your own outcome sits.
129 occupations match this filter; the 25 shown are those with at least 15,000 people employed nationally. Smaller occupations are excluded because a national median drawn from a few thousand workers is not a reliable guide.
Other entry routes
Where these jobs pay most
Every figure above is a national median. The same occupation can pay two or three times more in one metropolitan area than another — the salary guides break each one down by metro.
About the data
Two federal datasets are joined here. Wages come from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey of employers. Entry requirements — education, training and prior experience — come from the Employment Projections programme, which assigns each occupation the level typically needed to enter it. “Typically” is doing real work in that sentence: individual employers set their own bars, and plenty hire above or below the classification.