10 Risky Jobs That Pay Big Bucks

Photo of a man dangling on a rope above a pit of aligators

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 24 July 2013

Often with dangerous jobs, the pay doesn’t come close to compensating for the risk. In fact, plenty of perilous jobs pay paltry sums compared to other options. Take fishermen and loggers. They can expect median salaries of under $35,000 a year, $23,000 less than the mean for all workers. Yet the fatality rate for fishermen is nearly 39 times the rate for all occupations, the highest of any profession, in fact. Loggers, at nearly 28 times the overall fatality rate, rank second.

The COVID-19 pandemic shook up the risk scenario in the workplace. Overall, workplace injuries and illnesses were down 5.7% in 2020, compared to the previous year. But a closer look at the numbers reveals that while injuries dropped significantly, illnesses went way up.

The pandemic also made a new group of low-paying jobs among the riskiest in the nation. Nursing assistants had the highest number of days of any profession away from work in 2020, the most recent year available, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They had 1,024 days away from work per 10,000 workers in 2020, an increase of 14 times the rate in 2019. Yet nursing assistants make a mean wage of just over $30,000.

As perilous as work has become for many during the pandemic, fewer people were injured on the job in 2020 than in any year since 2013, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, those data showed an American worker died every 111 minutes from a job-related injury. The most common cause of death on the job was transportation-related incidents, which resulted in 1,778 deaths that year, more than 37% of all work-related deaths.

We believe that if you're going to take a risky job, you should at least get compensated handsomely for it. So we crunched the numbers on injuries, fatalities and salaries to identify eight occupations offering paychecks that make up for the elevated risks by paying more than the national median of about $58,000. Top earners in many of these fields can enjoy six-figure salaries, in some cases even without college degrees. Plus, many of them won’t be replaced by technology, which spells job security.

Data sources: All data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unless otherwise noted. Most statistics from 2020, unless otherwise indicated. That year, the fatality rate for all occupations was 3.4 deaths per 100,000 workers.. "Top pay" represents the annual salary of a worker in the 90th percentile of an occupation, unless otherwise noted. We used the most updated data provided by BLS. In some instances, that was as far back as 2019 or older. Also, in some instances, the bureau provided median salary information, while for other occupations, it provided average salary information.

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Lists

Airline Pilot

Number of workers: 42,770
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 34.3 (3.4 for all workers).
This represents a decrease of the 2019 rate of 61.8 per 100,000 FTEs
Median annual salary: $115,080
Top pay: $197,400*
Annual fatalities: 4

You can save yourself the cost of college by heading straight to flight school, though most airlines prefer to hire degree-holders. You'll need the edge. Competition for openings can be fierce, given industry consolidation and the job market's overall weakness. You'll also have to clock the flight hours necessary to even apply for an airline job. The Federal Aviation Administration requires applicants for pilot and first officer positions to have a minimum of 1,500 hours of total flight time.

But if you rack up enough experience and airborne hours, annual pay with the major airlines can soar to $200,000 or more, according to AirlinePilotCentral.com. Similarly plump salaries can be had if you land an offer from one of the flying freight giants. FedEx and UPS pay their captains at least $212,000 and $233,000 a year, respectively, starting in just their second years. Bonus: no whiny passengers.

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Private Detective

Number of workers: 33,700
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 122.6 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 43
Mean annual salary: $60,970
Top pay: $98,070
Annual fatalities: 1

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Registered Nurse

Number of workers: 3 million
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 1023.8 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 8
Median annual salary: $75,330
Top pay: $103,000
Annual fatalities: 12

Registered nurses were among those most affected by COVID; they endured a whopping 78,740 injuries and illnesses in 2020, an increase of more than 290% over 2019 when there were 20,150 injuries and illnesses among registered nurses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2020, the number of cases in which registered nurses had days away from work increased by 58,590 cases (290.8 percent) to 78,740 cases, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to Indeed.com, the average base salary for a registered nurse is nearly $89,000 as of May 2022. That ranges from $80,266 for nurses with less than a year of experience to $104,907 for those with more than 10 years of experience. New York is the highest paying city where registered nurses earn an average of nearly $103,000 a year. But Iindeed says just 62% of registered nurses in the U.S. think their salaries are enough for the cost of living in their area.

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Professional Athlete

Number of workers: 16,700
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 1,542.1 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 10
Median annual salary: $77,300
Top pay: $107.5 million
Annual fatalities: 10

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Police Officer

Number of workers: 665,000
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 121.7 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 15
Median annual salary: $64,610
Top pay: $102,530
Annual fatalities: 105

If you don't mind mixing it up with the occasional physical altercation or high-speed chase, paychecks 59% higher than the national median may be worth sustaining some sprains, strains and tears (the most common injuries for police officers). You can enter the police academy after graduating from high school or getting your GED, though many agencies require some college coursework or a college degree. But you have to be at least 21 years old to become an officer (younger recruits can be cadets and do clerical work until they're of age). A college degree can help fatten your paycheck, however. A B.A. in criminal justice can push salaries into six figures, according to Payscale.

Indeed.com reports the average base salary for a U.S. police officer is $55,390. This ranges from $46,900 for officers with less than a year of experience to $76,650 for those with more than ten years of experience. The highest paying city is San Jose, California, where officers make an average of $131,000. According to Indeed, 53% of police officers report being satisfied that their salaries are enough for the cost of living in their area.

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Railroad Conductor/Yardmaster

Number of workers: 48,030
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 180 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 22
Median annual salary: $63,960
Top pay: $82,460
Annual fatalities: 11 in 2019

Train-track tragedies are as uncommon as they are heartbreaking. Overall, railroad safety has improved dramatically over the past decade. Heading the crews of freight and passenger trains and rail yards, railroad conductors and yardmasters have the highest rates of injury of all rail transportation workers, but they have the potential to score the biggest paychecks, too. You need just a high school diploma or the equivalent to get started, and you have to be certified by the Federal Railroad Administration to become a conductor. Most employers require one to three months of on-the-job training. Amtrak and some freight companies offer their own training programs, while smaller railroads may send you to a central facility or community college to prep you for the job.

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Mining Machine Operator

Number of workers: 14,740
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 248.0 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 23 for surface mining, 46 for underground and 60 for continuous Median annual salary: $60,300
Top pay: $78,060
Annual fatalities: 5 for surface mining, 7 for underground

Education requirements are minimal to get started (some jobs don't even require a high school diploma). But if you go into mining with a college degree, you stand to earn a fatter paycheck and added safety as a mining engineer. Indeed says mining engineers, who inspect mining areas and design underground systems of entries, exits and tunnels, make an average national salary of more than $97,000 as of April 2022. Their job is also dangerous as they are often close to heavy machinery and are exposed to air pollution and in danger of being hurt in a cave-in.

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Electrician

Number of workers: 729,600 in 2020
Rate of injuries/illnesses: 122.2 per 10,000 workers
Median workdays missed due to injury/illness: 15
Median annual salary: $60,040
Top pay: $82,930
Annual fatalities: 68 in 2019

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Rapacon joined Kiplinger in October 2007 as a reporter with Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and became an online editor for Kiplinger.com in June 2010. She previously served as editor of the "Starting Out" column, focusing on personal finance advice for people in their twenties and thirties.

Before joining Kiplinger, Rapacon worked as a senior research associate at b2b publishing house Judy Diamond Associates. She holds a B.A. degree in English from the George Washington University.