You don’t need to wear a suit and tie to work to make six figures. Though it may require self-employment, the support of a labor union and, in some cases, not a small amount of risk to your safety, you can earn over $100,000 at a traditionally blue collar job.
“There are several occupations that have that potential,” says Carl Van Horn, professor of public policy and director of Rutgers John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. “A lot of them are in the trades.” As third-level students leave college saddled with debt, others are looking for alternative ways to earn $100,000 or more a year. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal interviewed a 24-year-old welder who earns $140,000 a year and attended Texas State Technical College in Waco, Texas.
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