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6 High-Salary Jobs Paying at Least $70k That Nobody Wants Anymore

Good pay, chronic vacancies. Here's what's keeping workers away.

By Sarah Brooks , Edited by Calista Headrick

Updated April 22, 2026

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When people talk about worker shortages, they usually picture fast food counters or warehouse loading docks. But some of the most chronically understaffed jobs in the country pay well above the national average, and they're still struggling to attract workers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for all U.S. workers is $49,500. The jobs below clear that bar by a significant margin and offer a realistic path to achieve financial stability. What they share, though, is something a paycheck can't always fix: dangerous conditions, long stretches away from home, social stigma, or a path to entry that's more demanding than the pay suggests at first glance.

Here are six well-compensated roles that the American workforce has quietly been avoiding.

Editor's note: All salary data was sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

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Air traffic controller

Median annual wage: $144,580

Few jobs in the country come with a more arresting combination of pay and pressure. Air traffic controllers are responsible for the safe separation of aircraft in the national airspace, and the mental demands of the job are unlike virtually any other. The FAA regulates how long controllers can work a single shift and mandates rest between shifts — because the consequences of fatigue are not abstract.

The shortage here is severe and well-documented. In 2024, roughly 40% of FAA terminal facilities were understaffed, according to USAFacts analysis of federal data. The FAA's 2025–2028 workforce plan calls for hiring at least 8,900 new controllers through 2028.

The bottleneck isn't interest — hundreds of thousands of people have applied. The problem is that fewer than 10% of applicants meet the FAA's requirements, and those who make it through face a training pipeline that can take up to six years to complete.

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CPA / accountant

Median annual wage: $81,680

Accounting has a stable, well-paying career track, yet the profession cannot fill its pipeline. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has described the situation as a "pipeline crisis," and the numbers back it up. First-time CPA exam candidates dropped from 48,004 in 2016 to 28,082 in 2024, a decline of more than 40%. Total accounting degree completions fell roughly 30% over the past decade, reaching a 20-year low in the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

The causes are structural. The CPA credential requires 150 credit hours — effectively a fifth year of college — on top of passing a notoriously difficult four-part exam. Meanwhile, fields like technology and finance offer higher starting salaries with fewer barriers to entry. A 2024 survey found that 83% of financial leaders said they could not find qualified accounting talent, up from 70% in 2022.

The profession is also facing a retirement wave. An estimated 75% of currently licensed CPAs are baby boomers approaching retirement age, and the incoming class of new accountants is not keeping pace with the exits.

HVAC technician

Median annual wage: $59,810 - $84,250

HVAC technicians install, maintain, and repair heating, cooling, and refrigeration systems in homes, schools, hospitals, and commercial buildings. Demand is growing fast: the BLS projects employment in this field to grow 8% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.

So why is the field short-staffed? The work is physically demanding, with technicians regularly working in cramped attic spaces, on rooftops in summer heat, and in basements during winter breakdowns. The BLS notes that HVAC technicians have one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations. Schedules are unpredictable, with emergency calls on nights and weekends a regular feature of the job.

While the median wage isn't quite $70,000, experienced technicians and those running their own service businesses regularly earn well above it. The top 10% earn more than $80,000, and many techs who move into project management or start their own companies earn considerably more. The issue isn't the ceiling — it's the path and conditions required to get there.

Commercial truck driver

Median annual wage: $57,440 - $78,800

The commercial trucking industry has faced a well-publicized driver shortage for years, and the pay reflects the demand pressure. While the BLS median for heavy and tractor-trailer drivers sits at $57,440, top earners exceed $78,800. Owner-operators hauling specialized or hazardous cargo can clear $70,000 to $100,000, depending on routes and experience.

The lifestyle is the deterrent. Long-haul trucking means days or weeks away from home, irregular hours, limited access to healthy food and exercise, and the physical toll of sitting for extended periods under pressure to meet delivery windows. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration limits driving hours, but those limits also cap income for drivers paid by the mile.

The industry has about 237,600 openings projected annually over the next decade, most of them replacement openings as experienced drivers retire or leave. Younger workers, who have grown up with more location-flexible career options, have been notably resistant to a lifestyle that keeps them off the highway home for stretches at a time.

Nuclear power reactor operators

Median annual wage: $122,830

Nuclear power reactor operators control the equipment that generates electricity from nuclear reactions, adjusting control rods, monitoring reactor systems, and implementing emergency procedures when needed. The BLS May 2024 data identified them as the highest-paid production occupation in the country, ahead of power distributors and dispatchers and conventional power plant operators.

The shortage is acute and worsening. A 2024 U.S. Department of Energy survey found that 63% of nuclear power generation manufacturing employers said hiring was "very difficult" (more than any other electric power generation sector). Nearly 40% of the current nuclear workforce is expected to retire within the next decade, according to the Department of Energy, and the pipeline of replacements is not keeping pace.

The barriers to entry are real. Reactor operators must obtain a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license — a process that can take two or more years of plant-specific training after hiring. A 2024 study also found that only 34 U.S. universities offer nuclear engineering programs, limiting the front end of the pipeline.

Elevator installer and repairer

Median annual wage: $106,580

Elevator mechanics are among the highest-paid skilled tradespeople in the country, and the field is chronically short on workers. The BLS projects about 2,000 annual job openings for elevator installers and repairers over the next decade — a field with a total workforce of around 25,000 people. That ratio of openings to workforce size reflects a significant and persistent gap.

Entry requires completing a four- or five-year apprenticeship program, which limits how quickly the field can grow its workforce. The work itself involves heights, confined spaces, and live electrical systems. Emergency calls can come at any hour. The combination of a narrow training pipeline and working conditions that many find genuinely hazardous keeps the supply of qualified technicians well below demand.

For workers who complete the apprenticeship and stick with the field, the financial rewards are clear. The lowest 10% of earners still make more than $54,720, and the top 10% exceed $149,250. The problem isn't the paycheck at the end. It's the five years it takes to get there.

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Bottom line

While the jobs above may boost your bank account, they may also come with dangerous conditions, long training pipelines, time away from family, physical strain, or career uncertainty. It's made them hard to staff despite wages that may clear the national median by tens of thousands of dollars.

The shortage in these fields is a labor market signal that not enough people are taking that deal, and that employers in these industries may need to either improve conditions, raise pay further, or both.

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