11 Fastest Growing Blue Collar Jobs

What are the fastest growing blue collar jobs? 

In last two years, 5.8 million new jobs have been added to job market which in turn dropped down the unemployment rate from 6.7 percent in 2013 to 5 percent at the end of 2015. Whether the growth will continue at the current rate is debatable but it is certain that these fastest growing blue collar jobs will constitute a great share of future positions.

USA Today analysis predicts that blue collar jobs will account for 40 percent of job growth by 2017, or in other words, there will be 2.5 million job openings for low and middle-skilled employees. The growing demand for specialized workers is only one of reasons that make blue collar industry increasingly appealing. The others are high wages and opportunity to develop a unique set of skills.

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Prevalent stereotypes which associate term ‘blue collar’ with low-skilled, unqualified, low-wage workers, could not be further from the truth. Many emerging blue collar positions require a special set of skills that employees can acquire only through serious training. The fact that there are not many people who have necessary skills gives competitive advantage on the job market.

College education has become very pricey and student loans put many high school graduates off pursuing BA and MA degrees. On the other side, vocational training can secure comfortable living with much less initial investment. And while higher education undoubtedly secures good employment prospects, it is a myth that low and middle-skilled workers earn less by default. For instance, an average electrician makes $5,000 a year more than the average college graduate. And when you scroll through our ranking 11 best paying blue collar jobs in the US, you see that an elevator installer, with an average salary of 76,650, earns more than an average advanced degree holder.

In creating list 11 fastest growing blue collar jobs, we used Bureau of Labor Statistics projections of future job demand by 2024. Besides job growth, we present average salaries as determined by BLS.