Careers that cost under $5,000 to train for in the US
The cost is the all-in figure from each career's own page: tuition, fees, exams, licences and required kit, not rent, food or travel. Everything here comes in under $5,000 even on the expensive route. Many are paid apprenticeships or jobs where the employer trains you, so you earn from the first week.
51 careers in the United States
Nothing, or under $1,000
17Border Patrol AgentA federal law enforcement job patrolling the land between the ports of entry, mostly in the desert Southwest.Typical pay$76kTo qualify1 to 2 yrsDemandModerateCoast Guard MemberSearch and rescue, law enforcement and pollution response on American waters. You can enlist straight out of high school.Typical pay$52kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandModerateEnlisted Service MemberJoin straight out of high school, get trained and paid from day one, and sign away several years of your choices to do it.Typical pay$38kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandGoodMail CarrierA federal job you can start at 18, with a pension at the end and no tuition at the start.Typical pay$61kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedBaristaThe most common first job in the country, and a real craft if you decide to take it seriously.Typical pay$31kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandGood911 DispatcherAnswer the worst call of someone's life, work out what they need, and send help while keeping them alive on the line.Typical pay$53kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandModerateRestaurant ServerTake orders, run food, get paid in tips the same night. The most common first job in America.Typical pay$35kTo qualifyunder 1 yrDemandVery highDelivery DriverDrive a van or light truck, run a route, and get paid without a degree or a license exam.Typical pay$45kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandVery highFlight AttendantSafety crew first, service second, paid by the flight hour and living by a seniority list.Typical pay$64kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandVery highBus DriverGet a commercial license paid for by your employer and drive a route every day.Typical pay$48kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandModerateCorrectional OfficerKeep order inside a jail or prison. No tuition, paid training, and a job that asks a lot of you.Typical pay$59kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedLifeguardGet certified at 15, get paid to watch water, and learn how to keep people alive.Typical pay$34kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandVery highWildland FirefighterFight fire in forests and rangeland with hand tools, chainsaws and water. Seasonal, brutal, and the hardest job to walk away from.Typical pay$59kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandModeratePest Control TechnicianFind what is chewing, biting or nesting, then get rid of it. A licensed trade you can enter straight out of high school.Typical pay$46kTo qualify1 to 2 yrsDemandModerateScaffolderBuild the temporary structures every other trade stands on. First on site, last off.Typical pay$47kTo qualifyup to 3 yrsDemandModerateLongshore WorkerLoad and unload ships on the docks. Getting on the list is harder than doing the work.Typical pay$40kTo qualify1 to 8 yrsDemandModerateSecurity GuardWatch, patrol, report. One of the fastest jobs in America to get licensed for, and a doorway into a lot of others.Typical pay$38kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandVery high
$1,000 to $5,000
34BartenderFast hands, a good memory, and legal responsibility for everyone you serve.Typical pay$34kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandGoodCommercial FisherCatch fish and shellfish for a living. No tuition, no degree, and no guarantee of what you make.Typical pay$37kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedSheet Metal WorkerYou cut, form and hang the metal that moves air through every building. Paid to learn from the first week.Typical pay$62kTo qualify4 to 5 yrsDemandLimitedRooferTear off, dry in, shingle, flash. Hard money, earned outdoors, from your first week.Typical pay$55kTo qualifyup to 3 yrsDemandVery highAuto Glass TechnicianCut out a cracked windshield, bond in a new one, and leave the car as strong as it was before.Typical pay$48kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandModeratePlastererPut the skin on a building. Interior plaster, exterior stucco, and the decorative work machines cannot do.Typical pay$58kTo qualify3 to 4 yrsDemandModerateDriving InstructorTeach teenagers to drive from the passenger seat. Cheap to start, and calm is the whole job.Typical pay$47kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandModerateIronworkerSteel is the skeleton of everything. You tie it, bolt it, weld it and hang it, usually outdoors and often high up.Typical pay$59kTo qualify3 to 4 yrsDemandModerateDeckhandWork the deck of a tug, ferry or cargo ship. No degree, but you live where you work.Typical pay$52kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedMortgage BrokerTake somebody's income, debts and credit file, find a lender who will say yes, and get paid when the house closes.Typical pay$77kTo qualifyup to 2 yrsDemandLimitedInsulatorWrap buildings and pipes so heat stays where it belongs. Little schooling, quick hiring, hard on the body.Typical pay$49kTo qualifyup to 4 yrsDemandModerateCertified Nursing Assistant (CNA)A few months of training to a job every hospital and nursing home in the country is short of. Hard, physical, human work, and the pay is modest.Typical pay$42kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandVery highGlazierCut, lift and set the glass in storefronts, skyscrapers and houses. Paid from your first day of training.Typical pay$57kTo qualify3 to 4 yrsDemandModerateInsurance BrokerSell and manage the policies that cover people's cars, homes, health and businesses. Cheap to start, brutal in year one.Typical pay$62kTo qualifyup to 4 yrsDemandModerateCasino DealerRun a table game for eight hours. Weeks of training, a state background check, and most of your pay comes from tips.Typical pay$34kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedInsurance AdjusterDecide what a claim is worth and what the policy actually covers. No degree required in most states, a license in nearly all of them.Typical pay$78kTo qualifyup to 4 yrsDemandLimitedDrywall InstallerHang the boards that make a building into rooms. Paid by the sheet, and fast hands earn the most.Typical pay$59kTo qualifyup to 4 yrsDemandModerateRail Traffic ControllerYou sit in a control center and decide where every train on your territory goes next.Typical pay$78kTo qualify1 to 5 yrsDemandLimitedPlumberInstall and repair the pipes that carry water, gas and waste. Paid from your first day of training.Typical pay$64kTo qualify4 to 5 yrsDemandGoodElevator MechanicBuild and maintain the machines that move millions of people a day, for the best pay in any trade you can enter from high school.Typical pay$110kTo qualify4 to 5 yrsDemandVery highTravel AgentPlan and sell other people's trips. The job the internet was supposed to kill, and did not quite.Typical pay$50kTo qualifyup to 2 yrsDemandLimitedConcrete FinisherPlace and finish the concrete everything else is built on. Paid from your first day, no tuition.Typical pay$57kTo qualifyup to 4 yrsDemandLimitedElectricianWire houses, factories and data centers. Get paid from your first week of training and never owe tuition.Typical pay$63kTo qualify4 to 5 yrsDemandVery highSprinkler FitterYou install and test the pipes and sprinkler heads that stop a building fire spreading. Paid apprenticeship, no college debt.Typical pay$64kTo qualify4 to 5 yrsDemandVery highPhlebotomistDraw blood, label it right, keep the patient calm. The fastest way into a hospital job in the country.Typical pay$45kTo qualify1 to 2 yrsDemandVery highFloristDesign with flowers for weddings, funerals and ordinary Tuesdays. Low pay, real craft, early mornings.Typical pay$37kTo qualifyup to 2 yrsDemandLimitedDrone PilotA federal certificate you can earn at 16. The certificate is easy, the paid work is the hard part.Typical pay$123kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandGoodPharmacy TechnicianFill prescriptions, run the counter and keep the pharmacy moving. Under a year of training for a regulated health job.Typical pay$46kTo qualify1 to 2 yrsDemandVery highBicycle MechanicKeep bikes safe and running. Low pay, real craft, and a trade you can start the week you leave school.Typical pay$43kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedFloor Covering InstallerCarpet, vinyl, laminate and hardwood, cut and fitted on your knees in somebody else's building.Typical pay$50kTo qualify1 to 4 yrsDemandLimitedDirect Support ProfessionalHelp people with disabilities live their own lives. You can start within weeks, and the pay is the hard part.Typical pay$46kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandVery highButcherBreak down whole animals into cuts people cook. Learn it on the job, paid, from week one.Typical pay$40kTo qualifyup to 2 yrsDemandLimitedUnderground MinerRun loaders and shuttle cars a mile underground. Good money, no degree, real danger.Typical pay$75kTo qualifyup to 1 yrDemandLimitedRailroad ConductorYou are in charge of the train: the paperwork, the cars, the crew and every move it makes.Typical pay$78kTo qualify1 to 2 yrsDemandLimited