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Six-figure US salaries without a degree: What the 2023 data shows. (AI Image)
A growing number of full-time workers in the US are earning six-figure salaries without holding a bachelor’s degree, challenging long-standing assumptions about the relationship between higher education and income.According to a recent LendingTree analysis, based on 2023 US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates, at least 40 percent of Americans without a bachelor's degree now earn $100,000 or more annually. This equates to 5.7 million full-time workers — approximately 9 percent of the total workforce — who are reaching six-figure incomes without completing university education.Top-paying jobs without a degreeThe LendingTree study identified the occupations with the highest proportions of non-degree holders earning six-figure incomes.
Chief executives and legislators led the list, with 63.6 percent of those in these roles earning $100,000 or more without a bachelor’s degree.Architectural and engineering managers followed closely at 60.9 percent, while 56.5 percent of software developers also reached six-figure earnings without holding a university degree. Other high-paying roles for non-graduates included sales engineers (56.1 percent), computer and information systems managers (53.9 percent), and power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers (52.4 percent).
Occupations with the highest percentage of workers without a bachelor's degree earning six figures
| No. | Occupation | Percentage (%) |
| 1 | Chief executives and legislators | 63.60% |
| 2 | Architectural and engineering managers | 60.90% |
| 3 | Software developers | 56.50% |
| 4 | Sales engineers | 56.10% |
| 5 | Computer and information systems managers | 53.90% |
| 6 | Power plant operators, distributors and dispatchers | 52.40% |
| 7 | Elevator installers and repairers | 51.90% |
| 8 | Computer network architects | 50.70% |
| 9 | Computer hardware engineers | 49.50% |
| 10 | First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers | 48.70% |
| 11 | Information security analysts | 48.50% |
| 12 | Petroleum, mining and geological engineers | 48.00% |
| 13 | Locomotive engineers and operators | 46.90% |
| 14 | Aircraft pilots and flight engineers | 45.50% |
| 15 | Aerospace engineers | 44.20% |
| 16 | Electrical power-line installers and repairers | 44.10% |
| 17 | Air traffic controllers and airfield operations specialists | 43.90% |
| 18 | Sales managers | 40.80% |
| 19 | Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists | 40.60% |
| 20 | Other engineers | 40.20% |
Source: LendingTree analysis of US Census Bureau 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates microdata, hosted on IPUMS.Metro areas with highest concentration of high-earning non-graduatesThe analysis also identified US metro areas with the largest share of six-figure earners without bachelor’s degrees.
San Francisco and Seattle led the rankings, each with 17 percent of workers in this category. San Jose, California followed at 16 percent.Conversely, the lowest shares were recorded in Greensboro, North Carolina and El Paso, Texas, each at 4 percent, followed by Lakeland, Florida at 5 percent.Significant gender gap in six-figure earningsThe study revealed a notable gender disparity among six-figure earners without a university degree.
Of the 5.7 million high-income earners in this group, 4.4 million were men, and only 1.3 million were women.Men make up 58 percent of the full-time workforce without degrees but account for 77 percent of those earning six figures. Women, who comprise 41 percent of the non-degree workforce, represent only 22 percent of high-income earners.As reported by The Hill, Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief consumer finance analyst, stated, “The sky-high cost of a college education has already led many people to question whether the degree is worth it.” He further said, “There’s no question that data showing that people can make six figures without that college degree will only make more people reconsider that degree.”The findings are based on data from the 2023 US Census Bureau ACS microdata hosted on IPUMS and analysed by LendingTree.TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.
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