$25-an-hour Jobs

www.careerbuilder.com ^ | October 2007 | Mary Lorenz

[Maelstorm]

$25-an-hour Jobs

By Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer

If you get paid a salary, you probably don't give much thought to what you make on an hourly basis. Either the thought is too depressing ("That's all I make per hour?"), produces too much guilt ("That's how much the company spends every time I take a 'little' break to watch YouTube videos?"), or simply doesn't occur to you.  That said, $25 an hour may not sound like much, until you realize that the median household salary is $46,326 according to the 2005 U.S. Census Bureau, and that breaks down to about $22.27 per hour for a 40-hour work week. 

 

So who's making more than the average American at $25 an hour?

 

1. Market analyst -- $27.18/hour
Market analysts work in government agencies, consulting firms, financial institutions or marketing research firms, where they research and predict the sales potential of a particular product or service. A bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for many jobs; however, a master's degree in a field such as business administration, marketing, statistics or communications will provide more opportunities.
Average annual salary: $56,541*

 

2. Chemist -- $25.16/hour
Chemists search for and use knowledge about chemicals to discover and develop new and improved products, processes to save energy and reduce pollution, and advances in fields like medicine and agriculture. A bachelor's degree in chemistry or a related discipline is the minimum educational requirement; however, many research jobs require a master's degree or doctorate.
Average annual salary: $52,333

 

3. Civil engineer -- $25.29/hour
Civil engineers plan, design and oversee engineering for building projects like airports, bridges, buildings and irrigation systems.  They often need a degree in civil engineering or certification as a registered civil engineer.
Average annual salary: $52,605
 
4. Social worker -- $25.06/hour
Social workers work for places like community centers, hospitals and penal institutions, where they develop programs to help individuals and groups enhance their personal relationships and social development.  Social workers receive accreditation through a four-year college degree program in social work and on-the-job experience.
Average annual salary: $52,119

 

5. Human resources generalist -- $26.90/hour
Human resources generalists work to improve working conditions within an establishment by identifying, evaluating and resolving problems in employee relations and work performance. A combination of directly related training and experience is typically required for carrying out the responsibilities for this job.
Average annual salary: $55,959

 

6. Architect -- $26.41/hour
Architects apply their knowledge of design to plan and supervise the construction of building projects according to their clients' needs and financial resources.  Architects need a degree from an approved school of architecture.
Average annual salary: $55,060 

 

7. Speech pathologist -- $25.05/hour
Speech pathologists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of speech and language disorders and study the science of human communication. Practice requires a four-year degree in the field of health sciences.
Average annual salary: $52,105

 

8. Budget analyst -- $26.71/hour
Budget analysts review financial plans and help institutions prepare budgets, improve efficiency and lower costs. Budget analysts typically have at least a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business, public administration, economics, statistics, political science or sociology.
Average annual salary: $55,579

 

9. Detective -- $27.02/hour
Detectives carry out investigations to prevent crimes or solve criminal cases.  Detectives are appointed based on their eligibility under civil service regulations, their performance in competitive written exams and their previous education and experience. 
Average annual salary: $56,197

 

10. Physical therapist -- $25.68/hour
Physical therapists plan and administer medically prescribed treatment for patients suffering from injuries or certain diseases to restore function, relieve pain and prevent disability. A combination of training and experience is typically required to practice, as well as compliance with state licensing requirements. 
Average annual salary: $53,410

[Dust in the Wind]

"median household salary"

It does say household, could be one earner, probably is two earners in most households and there is a growing number of three or more earners per household.

[mamelukesabre]

I didn’t see any figs for mechanical engineers. What are you talking about?

[miliantnutcase]

I just figured my salary break down would be 15 bucks an hour at my 60 hours a week. Depressing...

[nhoward14]

Which one? The taxes or being single? Either way, I ain’t gonna get to keep the money.

[eyedigress]

Or Computer Science and EE’s.

[patton]

I misread it - keep reading the thread.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I was going to say lot’s of potatoes, but that is Idaho... plenty of corn though in Iowa.

[Maelstorm]

You are right. It is all about location. I’m lucky in that I can live where I like as long as it is within range of an airport. I worked in Alexandria for a while and it was worth the 2 hour trip everyday to bring home 100k. The problem you run into is that in areas like Central VA you are faced with either two people working or you have to scrap by. I don’t fancy scraping by. I grew up in an area where one can still probably buy 3 bedroom houses for 30k but it also means that there is a lot more competition for jobs and your career path is left on a very slow track. If that is what you like then who am I to criticize. I could’ve went in the coal mines but I didn’t see myself there. I was offered a job with the civil service but I didn’t see myself there. A lot of it goes to what one desires.

I desire to be so well off money is something I don’t worry or think about at all. I want to be able to fly my family around the world and go on vacations and pay for my 4 kids the the best education possible. I want to be able to help those around me and encourage them to rise up and have faith. I don’t need money to do that but I like the feeling of being able to help people who need it like I was helped on my way up from the rural town where I grew up.

[RachelFaith]

If you live in Northern VA, you likely have a house you can sell for enough money to BUY a small town here.

= )

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Take your gross pay and add %7.5.

If I'm getting where you're coming from properly, it actually should be 7.65% (total SS/Medicare tax is 15.3%).

[Dinsdale]

Get married but don’t tell your wife how much money you make. Tell her half.

[Wage Slave]

I feel your pain. I’m trying to escape nursing. Even Walmart has gotta be better than this.

[patton]

Interesting retirement plan...

[vpintheak]

It seems like a lot, for sure. I don’t make quite that much, and my family is running the razors edge every single month. We don’t go out, we don’t eat out more than 1 or 2 times a month. We are total homebodies. Still here we are. My folks in Iowa think I’m making a crazy amount of money. They make less than me together and are rolling in the dough. If I didn’t like Alaska so much we would get out ASAP.

[mamelukesabre]

I live in iowa too. I’m on the edge of a city and I sometimes forget to even close my front door. I’ve come home from work to find the screen door closed and the front door not even closed with a loaded firearm on the kitchen table. My house is only about 950 square feet, and was dirt cheap. A brand new four wheel drive work truck costs as much as my house.

I strongly feel that crime rate is proportional to the uniformity of the populace. If everyone is the same race, ethnicity, religion, education, economic and social standing...crime drops to nil. Of course that is impossible unless artificially imposed and that amounts to communism. But iowa is, I think, the closest you will find to the uniformity ideal in america without resorting to communism.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

How much would a average new home go for in Iowa ?
Someone with a lot of money on hand could buy those houses you were talking about, but ? the average person, were would they find a decent job there unless they go into the city ?

[Cymbaline]

A 5ESS is a telephony switch, originally made by AT&T, now made by Alcatel/Lucent. It’s pretty much a standard telecom switch, along with the Nortel DMS and Ericsson AXE 10. (And others.)

Good Advice (although you’d have to pay me a lot more than that to get me to move to Saudi Arabia for 2 years!).
I make more than $25/hr as a switch tech here in Austin. It’s been pretty good here since moving from California; I’m doing better even though I don’t make quite as much.

[BobS]

"I buy new shoes just before I think my wife is at the point where she’s going to go out and buy them for me."

Let me guess. You like football.

[Iscool]

I love shoes.

I love socks.

I'm just happy to have feet...

[ASOC]

The Union LEC techs here in Anchorage pull down 100K/yr + another (about) 25K/yr in bennies. Not bad at all for a HS diploma.

And if you join the USAF, they will send you to a DMS 10 school and let yu work on the gear for 4 years - for a lot less dough.

This came up in a bull session some time back when I worked for a CLEC - how could a person make a good living without a sheepskin - the the related costs.

The work in Saudi was to recoup your out of pocket training costs and pick up a good nest egg for return to the US.

A lot of Cell carriers use a variant of the 5ESS - CDX or a VCDX.