Salary
Average Salary: $34,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,419,432
For a job you can get straight out of high school, an average starting salary of nearly $30,000 plus benefits is nothing to sneeze at. However, should you choose to start a family, it won't seem like so much anymore. Here's hoping you saved up like a pack rat during those years your geeky friends were racking up student loan debt. If so, you'll definitely be the one laughing during your twenties.
Will it be the last laugh, though? Not likely. The fact is, this is a blue-collar gig and you'll be earning a working-class wage your whole life if you stick with it. Your buddy who designs the equipment you drive will bring in double what you make.
Once again, there are lots of opportunities for temporary work in this field. You could work as much or as little as you want, and take time for other things. Maybe you're just looking for something part-time so that you can spend the rest of your days playing the stock market and getting filthy stinking rich. In any case, if you're getting into this line of work, you're probably a pretty realistic type of person and understand what you're getting into. Hard work, so-so pay, rural lifestyle, and big, awesome machines.