All professions are different, and each impacts the world in different ways. No matter how small or big, every job is valuable and should be treated as such. But the truth is that some of the most looked-up-to jobs are often undervalued.
There are so many reasons why this happens. As society keeps evolving, you might notice that some of the jobs you previously thought were prestigious just don’t pay people enough any more. To prove that point, we’ve compiled this list of high-end jobs with shockingly low salaries.
More info: Reddit
#1
Teachers.
Image source: lgbt-love4, nappy
#2
Librarians. I couldn’t believe the position required a Masters degree for what they get paid.
Image source: braids_and_pigtails, Tima Miroshnichenko
#3
Paramedic.
Image source: gregaustex, Mikhail Nilov
#4
People who work with at risk populations like youth, the homeless, addicts, etc to work with them to help them turn their lives around. You’re typically working for nonprofits who rely on government grants and donations by the community to get them funded. The people you are working with aren’t paying for these services and thus, these agencies aren’t bringing in income from these people. Welcome to the psychology field.
Image source: ChickenXing, Brooke Cagle
#5
EMTs (emergency medical technician)!!! Wtf? We call em in because we don’t want to die. [They] make barely enough for a loaf of bread.
Image source: WTFisThatSMell, Pavel Danilyuk
#6
Most of the crew in film & tv production sets.
Image source: Professional_Bee_930, Lê Minh
#7
Paraprofessional… If you think teachers have it rough, we’re the ones who help those teachers manage the kids with behavior issues, Mal-adaptive personalities, autism, severe ADHD, learning disorders… A generation before, these kids would have been sent away to mental asylums and forgotten about if they couldn’t adapt to “normal” schooling, but we’re trying to give them an equal shot at an education.
Image source: laurenlcd, Arthur Krijgsman
#8
Any field relating to veterinary work or animal work in general….very low pay.
Image source: SqueezableFruit, Mikhail Nilov
#9
College Professor.
Image source: Then-Wealth-1481, fauxels
#10
Certified Nursing Assistant.
Image source: Lala6699, Laura James
#11
Any position in academic research.
Image source: srsh32
#12
This may be niche but being a professional opera singer sounds very prestigious and cool but even singers at top houses are barely surviving financially, and big stars often still have to do things like teach master classes or teach lessons/coachings whatever .
Image source: Tremblingchihuahua8, cottonbro studio
#13
My sibling has a PhD in Audiology. And there’s not much money in it at all. I barely have a high school degree and make 3x what they do in my tech sys admin role. .
Image source: Xerisca, Andrea Piacquadio
#14
Pretty much anything at a museum, even famous ones.
Image source: PlebCityBaby, Darya Sannikova
#15
Architecture. Ridiculously competitive AND low pay.
Image source: sappy60, Karolina Grabowska
#16
I get this all the time. Theoretical particle physicist for the Department of Energy Office of Science. I live, I survive, I have savings, I can cover emergencies but if I were private, I would almost be making double. However I will take the stability of this position with its amazing benefits and pension plan.
Image source: JezmundBeserker, cottonbro studio
#17
Most science jobs like Biologist.
Image source: Resident_Pop143, Edward Jenner
#18
I thought Administrative Assistant sounded cool until I became one. Feels like I’m a one-man department for menial tasks.
Image source: its_garrus, Jsme MILA
#19
A lot of political jobs. I worked in politics for a bit for a state rep and the pay was criminally low. Everyone thought it was such a fancy exclusive job but nope. I was making like $24k a year.
Image source: Zestypalmtree, August de Richelieu
#20
Im a Millwright for a medium-large sewer system and they pay is pretty good but as a critically essential service that gets literally no recognition, and trust me we go through some s**t to ensure you dont have to worry about flushing.
Image source: InitialAd2295, Chevanon Photography
#21
Criminal prosecutors.
Image source: SugaBoyOsheean, Sora Shimazaki
#22
News anchors and Journalists.
Image source: Charming_Bowler_9595, Mido Makasardi ©️
#23
Paralegals.
Image source: CarolynHarris623, Andrea Piacquadio
#24
Every “Account Executive” is a post-college grad making like 45k… Hopefully they can double it with a bonus.
Image source: id_death, Andrea Piacquadio
#25
Most healthcare IT jobs that are not hospitals.
Image source: Objective_Regret2768, cottonbro studio
#26
Mental health therapist.
Image source: badroll7, cottonbro studio
#27
Graphic Designer.
You can make bank if you are good at selling yourself in freelance to people who will pay, but they’re
Image source: enterAdigit, Antoni Shkraba
#28
NASA Astronaut. I think the average pay is like $100K a year which is crazy low for such a dangerous job.
Image source: UCFknight2016
#29
Business Operations, sounds like some kind of GM if you don’t know full Finance hierarchies but really it’s largely entry level AR, I made less per hour than I did at a restaurant, but benefits and building the resume for future jobs made it well worth it. How I got my start and if you word it right can really help to jump to the next step (typically AR has a low ceiling so have to pivot to staff Accounting or FP&A to keep moving up).
Also, any Non-Profit roles (I see CFO and Directors making pretty measly money in NP, but another good opportunity to build the resume) as well as lots in Education/Healthcare. Anything publicly funded/reliant on grants will not pay great and may artificially inflate titles to attract talent.
Image source: ChuckOfTheIrish, LinkedIn Sales Navigator
#30
Jeweler. Right now in AZ they make about $15-20 an hour, and that’s after going to school and with previous professional experience.
Image source: PermanentRoundFile
#31
Assistant District Attorney.
I currently make $75k but just got bumped to $90k after 2 years.
Really any professional government job though…
I was thinking about applying for the CIA as an analyst and the application said the pay range was like $60k-$80k.
I was like nope, I’d love to apply but I can’t afford a $10k-$20k pay cut when I’m barely scraping by on $75k.
Image source: ArgumentDismal5340, August de Richelieu
#32
Sandwich artist.
Image source: part_3460, Alex Green
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