Best-Paying Jobs with a High Percentage of Workers Age 16-24

and Over, Part-Time Workers, Self-Employed Workers, Women, and Men

The data we used to create this book included information that allowed us to compile more-specialized sets of lists that include high percentages of younger workers, older workers, part-time workers, self-employed workers, women, and men. As with the other lists, these lists are based on the jobs included in the list of 250 best-paying jobs.

For each group, we set a minimum figure that defines when a job has a high percentage of workers in that group. Then for each group we created three lists that consist only of bestpaying jobs that exceed that cutoff figure. For example, the best jobs lists for younger workers include

• Best-Paying Jobs for Workers Age 16-24 (this list is ordered by level of earnings and includes all jobs that exceeded the cutoff figure)


• Best-Paying Jobs with the Fastest Growth for Workers Age 16-24 (this list is ordered by growth rate and includes the top 25)


• Best-Paying Jobs with the Most Openings for Workers Age 16-24 (this list is ordered by the number of openings and includes the top 25)

We hope you find these lists interesting and useful. Do note that we are not suggesting that you should use the lists to limit your choices. For example, many jobs with a high percentage of women would provide excellent opportunities for, and should be considered by, men who find them interesting.

Best-Paying Jobs with a High Percentage of Workers Age 16-24

Workers age 16-24 are employed in virtually all major occupations, but they are concentrated in entry-level, part-time, seasonal, or service jobs. This makes sense in that many young workers have not yet settled into careers or are working while going to school. The jobs they get tend to be relatively easy to obtain but have relatively low wages.

For that reason, although workers age 16-24 make up 14 percent of the total workforce, in the 250 high-paying jobs they make up only 4.8 percent of the workforce. We decided that a job with only eight percent of young workers has a comparatively high concentration and used that figure as the cutoff point in assembling the following list. A total of 29 occupations exceeded this cutoff.

The jobs on this list are a very diverse set because there are several different reasons why young people would have a relatively large presence in a high-paying occupation. In many cases, the occupation is small and growing very rapidly-almost as if the occupation were just invented-and therefore it has a large contingent of young workers. Two examples are Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes and Orthotists and Prosthetists. In the business jobs listed here, workers who have gained experience tend to get promoted out of the job and into management.

If you're a young person, the important point to glean from this list is that there are a good number of high-paying jobs where your age is not a barrier to entry.