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photo credit: Richard Messenger

Good news for those of us looking for, or currently working at some blue-collar jobs; despite economic downturns as of late, those people willing to get their hands dirty are still making good money. Additionally, they stand to see growth in their industries as well – something by far from guaranteed in many industries today.

According to recent statistics collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) a list of the top paying blue-collar jobs was compiled, called the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES). Here are some of the top paying blue-collar jobs, according to those stats:

“elevator installers and repairers are the highest-paid blue-collar workers in the country. They earn a median hourly wage of $32.69, or about $68,000 annually. The job involves commercial and private projects varying in scale. The work could call for a dumbwaiter installation or passenger elevator and escalator fix.”

While in comparison to some higher-profile, white-collar jobs $68,000 annually may not sound like much, it is certainly a strong wage, even in today’s shrinking economy. Coming in at second and third, respectively, on this list are the following two occupations according to the BLS data:

“electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation and relay workers, who earn a median $28.35 an hour, or $58,970 a year. There are 23,320 of these electricians included in the BLS survey and the top-paying state is Vermont.
Locomotive engineers are third, earning a median hourly wage of $27.65, or $57,520 a year. There are 41,760 of these workers included in the BLS data, and the top-paying state is Nevada.”

The jobs defined as “blue-collar” are typically those that are paid hourly and require a significant amount of manual labor. The depressed housing market has had a significant impact on a once booming job market, in the blue-collar arena especially, but these jobs are expected to see growth in the coming years. This will be especially prevalent in the still developing Southwest and the Southeast. The data here should bring hope to those employed in these, and similar labor intensive professions, as should the following remarks from the BLS: “The big picture is promising for America’s blue-collar workers, with the BLS projecting an employment increase for all of the highest-paying jobs on this list by 2016.”

Those of you searching for a career path, choosing a major, or looking to make a career switch may want to heed this report and take that into consideration when looking at your next career move. To read the full article, which includes some of the highest-paying locations for these listed professions, click here.