Do people in the trade generally make more money than those who work in offices?

Question

For instance, do people who work as car mechanics, or plumber make more money than those who work in offices like accountants and financial managers, etc?

Answer 1

Yes, I believe that many do.

Answer 2

It depends on the trade and on the office job. Some trades pay better than others and experience is also a major factor in determining pay. When it comes to white collar jobs then the money is being in management, not in the secretaries pool or as a front desk receptionist. Regardless of what you want to do, your career path is going to be greatly determined on your willingness and ability to get the right training or education.

Answer 3

Yes. if you are a qualified tradesman,  

Answer 4

Office jobs, care jobs, hospitality jobs and other low wage jobs are all crap jobs. Go and work for yourself or be a CEO. 

Answer 5

That depends on your skill level... The guy welding mufflers at the used car lot wont be making the same money as the guy welding the steam pipe at a nuke reactor?

Answer 6

Depends.

Union work with double overtime can do well.

Generally, a tax accountant with a BA in it, a lot of experience;  can get  more consistent work. Average more than union plumbers.

Many  blue collar, unless  in a factory, depend on outside  jobs to make money. Work can get slack during this virus, I know a guy with an   HVAC cert, gets lots of work in summer. Laid off all winter. So, the  high fees he charges has to last him thru slack periods.

EDIT: A plumber doing emergency house call on a Sunday might "cost" $100/hour, but he doesnt pocket Near that much.

Answer 7

Yes Plumbers Electricians Carpenters Brick Layers House painters all make great money and can ask Double for Holidays

Answer 8

They can work as many hours as they want, but those who are in the tech field(s) are the ones that sit in front of a computer... in an expensive condo with a view in a big city.

Granted these days with Covid the big-city-condo living isn't such a big deal... but in my area they suddently build huge condos in a city that was run-down for decades and now the rich people are moving in for the view of the Puget Sound et al at sometimes $1,000,000 per unit.

Now I know a man that has spent most of his adult life mowing lawns - but via the help of charisma (i.e. taking out a few of his elderly clients to breakfast before Covid) he actually inherited an entire house (and I think a car from another separate client)... which became items he could totally sell.

He has paid off his house that he lives in... still working, too...

All that said one who mows lawns would never be able to move into a small apartment in NYC, though. 

It really depends on what you want.

I know (of) a roofer that has a lot of land and property... but it is way out in the sticks... no neighbors for a very long distance... gravel roadway to get to the house... 

It's all about what you want I guess. 

I did missionary work in rural South Dakota and we would arrive at some really nices houses with no fence and endless fields around it (not sure where the property ended)... but the houses themselves looked almost empty... no curtains... no visible furniture... not that we peeked in but you couldn't see anything just at a glance... and then there were the ones that looked weather-beat and had attic windows that had a swarm of bugs trying to get out (as if some rodent had crawled in and perished).

Answer 9

I dont know. Beats me.

Answer 10

Yes I was an electrician for many years and I made great money. Better than my ex wife who had a college degree.