42 Easy Jobs That Pay Well in 2024

Lots of things in life are hard: doing your taxes, buying a home, budgeting, finding the perfect childcare, trying to get “hold” music out of your head after talking to a customer service rep on the phone.

Work is often the hardest thing of all—finding a job, yes, but also doing it every day without feeling overwhelmed or exhausted. So it’s not surprising that many people have this wish in common: to find a reasonably easy job that pays well. Is that so hard?

Actually, it doesn’t have to be—there are a lot of roles out there that are simple, straightforward, and/or applicable to many people and skill sets. Below, we outline 42 easy jobs that pay well you can apply today.

What do we mean by “easy” jobs? 

Realistically, not everyone will find the same thing easy. In fact, what may seem like an easy career path to some may be the hardest thing for others to do. Like that friend you have who’s so good at predicting stock trends (but looking at the NASDAQ gives you a headache) or that friend who’s out if they have to write so much as an email (but writing up memos and reports is as second nature to you as tying your shoes).

The key when weighing whether a job will come easily to you is figuring out what you’ve done before and what you enjoy doing. When you match your skills and interests to a role, new tasks and challenges will be that much easier to tackle.

That said, it helps to have a baseline to start with—so here’s what we looked at to define what an easy job is:

• Prerequisites: For our list, we considered an easy job to be one that’s not just fairly easy to do but more or less easy to land, no matter your experience. Most of our roles require little to no education beyond an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, vocational school, or certifications.

• Stress: Easy jobs shouldn’t be all that stressful. Our list consists of mostly roles that score less than 80/100 on O*NET OnLine’s “Stress Tolerance” ranking, which evaluates jobs in terms of how much they require “dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.”

• Responsibility: Generally speaking, an easy job shouldn’t come with a lot of work or with work that’s a heavy lift mentally or physically. Our list considers a job’s day-to-day responsibilities and explains how many people might find it a simple task.

Note that easy jobs aren’t necessarily fun. If that’s more of a priority for you in your career, check out our list of fun jobs that pay well.

What do we consider a “high-paying” job? 

Each person defines a high salary differently, depending on their location, household makeup, and other factors like hobbies, needs, and savings.

To define “high paying,” we narrowed down our list of easy jobs to those that pay close to or above $58,260 a year, or the mean annual salary in the United States in May 2023, as last reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (If you want to go further into salary details when considering the right role for you, you can look at the average annual wage in your state, city, or industry.) 

42 jobs that are easy and pay well

The following “easy” jobs that pay well are in order of average annual salary, according to the latest BLS data. We listed a variety of roles for all types of job seekers: with or without formal education, who want to work from home, and creative, to name just a few. Check it out:

1. Statistical assistant

Average salary: $53,900 

As a statistical assistant, you help with compiling and analyzing data and data research. You may be assisting an actuary—someone who assesses financial risk for insurance companies or other entities—or another statistician. This role requires at least an associate’s degree and is a great fit for anyone who’s organized and mathematically inclined.

Find statistical assistant jobs on Fairygodboss

2. Computer support specialist

Average salary: $60,810 

If you’re the go-to person for relatives who struggle with using their devices and are looking for easy remote jobs that pay well, you may be drawn to the field of computer support or IT. Daily responsibilities include answering questions around software and hardware issues and setting up equipment for users—and the best part is this role can often be done remotely. Breaking in requires little more than some vocational or certification training.

Find computer support specialist jobs on Fairygodboss

3. Electrician

Average salary: $61,590 

There are all sorts of electricians—those who fix issues in your home and those who help with street lights, building intercoms, or other communal tech. While it can be a physical role and does require at least getting a license or doing an apprenticeship, often you can set your own hours or eventually run your own team.

Find electrician jobs on Fairygodboss

4. Property appraiser or assessor

Average salary: $61,630 

While a bachelor’s degree may be required to get into property appraising—a job that involves evaluating real estate and estimating its value—it’s a profession you can make your own. And it’s highly lucrative.

“There’s really no ceiling. I can work more hours and get more work from more clients and higher fees,” Terrence Bilodeau—who after getting his bachelor’s became a property appraiser and now makes $280,000 a year—told CNBC in 2020.

Find property appraiser or assessor jobs on Fairygodboss

5. Brickmasons and blockmasons

Average salary: $63,430 

Brickmasons and blockmasons construct or repair walls, partitions, sewers, or other structures using materials such as brick, tiles, or concrete. The only formal education you need is a high school diploma to get started—if you don’t mind working outside and with your hands.

Find brickmason and blockmason jobs on Fairygodboss

6. Construction or building inspector

Average salary: $67,700 

Inspectors ensure buildings of all shapes and sizes are up to code. They can specialize in areas like plumbing or become generalists. Attending vocational school and developing a keen eye for detail can give you the skills you need to dive into this job.

Find construction or building inspector jobs on Fairygodboss

7. Wholesale or manufacturing sales representative

Average salary: $73,080 

Wholesale and manufacturing sales reps are involved in B2B transactions, selling goods in bulk to businesses or groups of individuals and consulting on client needs. A bachelor’s degree may be required, but generally being a people person with a knack for solving problems is enough to succeed in this field.

Find wholesale or manufacturing sales representative jobs on Fairygodboss

8. Conservation forester

Average salary: $68,300 

Green thumb job seekers might find it easy to be foresters—and enjoy it too. The role entails managing the quality of parks, forests, and other natural resources as well as the people who maintain them.

Find conservation forester jobs on Fairygodboss

9. Survey researcher

Average salary: $66,670

Maybe you’re big on sending polls to your friends to schedule a Friday night dinner or insist on surveying your family extensively before planning a vacation—survey researcher could be the job for you. Not only do they create and send out surveys, but they spend time analyzing the data to make informed decisions for colleges, nonprofits, or other organizations. A graduate degree may be valuable to move up in this field, but you can break in with just a bachelor’s.

Find survey researcher jobs on Fairygodboss

10. Marketing research analyst

Average salary: $83,910 

Marketing analysts are like survey researchers except they conduct research on consumers and competitors for companies looking to better sell their products or break into a new territory. A lot of the work can be learned on the job, so long as you have strong organizational and communication skills. So, if you're looking for easy jobs that pay well without experience—or at least not years of experience—add this to your list.

Find marketing research analyst jobs on Fairygodboss

11. Supply chain manager

Average salary: $79,400 

It’s a supply chain manager’s job to make sure warehouses run smoothly and find ways to make the production process more efficient. A bachelor’s is not required, so you don’t need a degree to get started if you have a knack for supervising teams and operations.

Find supply chain manager jobs on Fairygodboss

12. Dental hygienist

Average salary: $87,530 

If you’ve ever been to the dentist, you know what a hygienist’s job entails. They clean your teeth and do the first round of examinations. While it’s ranked slightly higher than most roles for stress tolerance on O*NET OnLine’s ranking, you only need an associate’s degree to take on this role.

Find dental hygienist jobs on Fairygodboss

13. Technical writer

Average salary: $80,050 

Some writing jobs, like technical writing, do actually pay well and are relatively easy. Technical writers take a product that needs an instruction manual or another corresponding piece of literature and write about how it works in the simplest of terms. A bachelor’s degree may help you change careers into this field, but it’s not always mandatory. 

Find technical writer jobs on Fairygodboss

14. Project management specialist

Average salary: $98,580 

Project management specialists can work in a variety of fields helping to coordinate budgets, scheduling, staff, and other aspects of a company’s goals or initiatives. A certification alone can get you far in this high-growth industry (Google offers one, for example).

Find project management specialist jobs on Fairygodboss

15. Power plant operator

Average salary: $100,890 

Power plant operators ensure machinery and operations at power plants are well maintained— and you only need a high school diploma to become one. If you're searching for simple jobs that pay well and don't require any college education, add this to your list of potential careers.

Find power plant operator jobs on Fairygodboss

Other easy jobs that pay well:

16. Geological or hydrologic technician ($50,080)

17. Stonemason ($50,107)

18. Dredge operator ($50,530)

19. Solar photovoltaic installers ($50,710)

20. Extraction worker ($50,960)

21. Postal service clerk, mail sorter, processor, or processing machine operator ($51,010)

22. Social science research assistant ($51,340)

23. Biological technician ($51,770)

24. Glazier ($51,950)

25. Museum technician or conservator ($52,030)

26. Rigger ($52,100)

27. Legal secretary or administrative assistant ($52,540 a year)

28. Sailor or marine oiler ($53,250)

29. Tile and stone setter($53,330)

30. Faller ($53,760)

31. Farm labor contractor ($54,400)

32. Drywall or ceiling tile installer ($54,810)

33. Plasterer or stucco mason ($54,810)

34. Tank car, truck, or ship loader ($55,330)

35. Aircraft assembler ($55,380)

36. Fundraiser ($60,660)

37. Rail car repairer ($60,400)

38. Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator ($60,770)

39. Structural iron and steel worker ($61,270)

40. Railroad conductor ($66,990)

41. Control and valve installer or repairer ($67,310)