Top 15 Easy Jobs That Pay Well

This post has been rewritten to reflect the current economy we are in – September 16th, 2023

Having an easy job that pays well is the best of both worlds. You can make the money you need to enjoy life, while also enjoying a better work life balance.

Key Takeaways

• Desirable Balance: The allure of easy jobs that pay well lies in achieving a balance between a comfortable income and a stress-free work environment.
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• Varied Definitions: The term “easy” is subjective, as what might be simple for one person could be challenging for another. However, the article emphasizes jobs that don’t require extensive education or high-stress environments.
• Diverse Opportunities: The list includes a range of professions, from health-related roles like Massage Therapist and Dental Hygienist to roles in the travel and tourism sector like Flight Attendant and Tour Guide.
• Education and Training: While some jobs, like Librarian or Dental Hygienist, might require formal education or certifications, others like Truck Driver or House Sitter offer opportunities with minimal educational prerequisites.
• Personal Preferences Matter: The article encourages readers to consider their personal and professional goals, emphasizing that the best job is one that aligns with an individual’s passion and desired work-life balance.

15 Easy Jobs That Pay Well

1. Massage Therapist
2. Dental Hygienist
3. Marketing Manager
4. Personal Trainer
5. Flight Attendant
6. Librarian
7. Tour Guide
8. Private Tutor
9. Pharmacy Technician
10. Medical Records Tech
11. Truck Driver
12. Food Delivery
13. Claims Adjuster
14. House or Dog Sitter
15. Tradesman

What’s easy for one person may be difficult for another, so the ease of a job is fairly relative. But at the same time, some of the highest paying jobs that take place in very high-stress environments or require years of education and tens of thousands of dollars in investment.

High stress jobs include air traffic controller (with a salary of up to $220,000 annually), lawyer (average $170,000 annually), and stock broker (salaries of up to $400,000). When it comes to investments of time and money, becoming a doctor can take between 10 and 14 years. These high-stress or education-heavy jobs usually do pay very well, but if you’re looking for something that’s easy and low key, you’re going to want to look into other careers.

15 Easy Jobs That Pay Well

You really have to ask yourself what you want in terms of personal and professional goals and work life balance. If low stress jobs are something that interests you, you’ll definitely want to consider one of these 15 easy jobs that pay well.

1. Massage Therapist

Massage therapists use physical touch to relieve pain and stress and improve relaxation. The average annual salary is around $38k, which isn’t bad considering you can start right out of high school. Massage therapists typically have a high degree of freedom and mobility in their profession, along with the flexibility to run their own business or work with a spa or healthcare practice.

2. Dental Hygienist

Dental hygienists perform oral exams and conduct teeth cleanings. They offer preventative care and education, while a dentist assists with more serious ailments. The average dental hygienist salary varies widely from state to state, but the national median annual pay is a whopping six figures. It can take between two and four years to get the education you need to become a dental hygienist, which is amazing when considering the high pay potential.

3. Marketing Manager

If you love the idea of spreading a message, being a marketing manager may be a good career for you. The salary isn’t bad either, with a national median annual wage of around $136,850.

A marketing manager promotes a business or organization while building its brand. This might involve being a social media manager, overseeing the graphic design of traditional ads, creating events, and networking with consumer facing retailers. Being a marketing manager is great for creative and social individuals and it pays very well.

Most marketing managers have a bachelor’s degree, so it doesn’t require additional education beyond a standard four-year degree. Take note, however, that in some settings being a marketing manager might be stressful. Much of it depends on the industry, company culture, job description, and personal preference.

4. Personal Trainer

If you love fitness, then you might consider becoming a personal trainer. Personal trainers can run their own business and take clients privately, or they can work with a gym to help members.

The average personal trainer makes an average hourly wage between $25 to over $100, so you can see for yourself how that might all add up annually. You’ll spend the day exercising and helping other people get in shape, which can also be incredibly rewarding if you’re passionate about health.

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5. Flight Attendant

You might be surprised to see this job on the list, since airplane travel is often associated with disgruntled passengers and stressful situations. However, the majority of passengers are not difficult, and being an airline attendant is fairly straightforward. You won’t have to take your work home, and as an added perk you’ll get to travel a lot.

Average salaries fall around $37k annually. No formal education is required, and generally attendants just need a six-week training course to learn the ropes of how to care for passengers and ensure onboard safety.

6. Librarian

If you like to read, and you like introverted work in a quiet setting, it’s time to hit the library. With a strong annual salary of around $50k, librarians organize books and assist information seekers in finding what they need to locate on the shelves—all in a fairly low stress environment year round. Educational requirements do range, with some states asking only for a high school diploma and two thousand unpaid hours of volunteer library work, while others require a master’s degree.

7. Tour Guide

Generally speaking, you won’t find tour tour guides do not make a ton of money (an average of $27,600 annually), but some tour guides do better than others, depending on skill and area.

A tour guide takes visitors around a location or multiple locations and offers engaging presentations about local history. Sometimes they may be responsible for other things, such as coordinating travel and dining arrangements. If you like travel, history, art, or architecture, and you love to talk about it, this will be an easy and fun job, with no formal educational requirements and lots of flexibility to work either for an agency or as a sole proprietor.

8. Private Tutor

Though many teachers love what they do, there are plenty who will tell you that it’s a high stress environment trying to juggle the needs of the students, parents, and administration. If you like teaching, but don’t want to deal with the headaches of working in a school, you can skip all that and just work one-on-one with students needing help.

Private tutors work with people of all ages, from elementary schoolers to college students to adults, so you will have lots of flexibility in terms of who your clients are. Most private tutors are freelancers, so the amount of money earned relates to how much they want to work. Average salaries range from $39,350 to more than $87k. You can tutor in person, but tutoring can also be a great online job.

9. Pharmacy Technician

If a medical career sounds interesting, but you don’t want to spend 14 years becoming a doctor, you can dispense prescriptions at a pharmacy for anywhere between $33,950 to $49,130 annually.

Pharmacy techs speak with customers, take payments, dispense prescriptions, and speak with medical professionals. Though being a pharmacy tech is a mostly easy, well-paying job, it might serve as an inspiring springboard to invest eight years in becoming a full-fledged pharmacist, where the national average salary is $123,670 per year.

10. Medical Records Tech

If you are introverted and enjoy organization, a medical records technician could be a great role for you. Average salaries hover around $42,630, but the potential to earn more is there.

No degree is required, but professional certifications can help. Medical records techs file charts and make sure paperwork is complete, often triangulating with a patient’s insurance company. As such, they spend a decent amount of time on the phone. Some people may find this type of job stressful, but if filling out forms, billing, and placing calls to gather or provide information about patients sounds simple, this might be the easy job for you.

11. Truck Driver

Truck drivers move freight locally and nationally. If you like driving, trucking can be a great job. Truckers don’t usually need to be strong enough to lift heavy materials. In fact, most truckers don’t ever need to lift anything more than 50 pounds, since forklifts, carts, and hand trucks are often used to move goods around and load them into and out of the truck.

The median wage for a trucker is around $40k. Some truckers have their own truck and work as freelancers. Others are part of a company fleet. There’s a great degree of flexibility involved, and the opportunity—if you own your own rig—to develop your own fleet and company.

12. Food Delivery

Food delivery does not require any formal education, and in fact, it’s a job you can even start while in high school. You may not think that food delivery drivers make enough to pay their bills, but you’d be quite surprised how well paid a busy delivery person can be if they’re working for the right place.

Tips are usually paid in cash, and most people do tip when they order food. Though typical salaries vary state to state, some delivery drivers are making almost $50k annually, which is not bad for a job that needs no formal education and requires nothing other than driving food from one location to another.

If you love driving around and perhaps listening to music or talk radio, this could be a well-paying easy job for you. Food delivery can also serve as one of the best side hustles if you already have a full-time job.

13. Claims Adjuster

Claims adjusters often work in the field, assessing damages and providing estimates to insurance companies. The national average salary ranges between $35k to $75k. You technically don’t need a degree to be an insurance claims adjuster, though a bachelor’s degree can be useful for getting your foot in the door of the industry.

14. House or Dog Sitter

While labor statistics show that some jobs have a lot of competition, there are plenty of job openings to be a dog or house sitter. You might think this is the type of work you can only get through word of mouth, but the gig economy has created a plethora of opportunities for anyone looking to get a fun and interesting job. In fact, gig working is one of the top jobs for millennials!

House and dog sitters typically stay in someone’s home to take care of it while they are away. Typical duties include playing with pets, watering house plants, and collecting the mail. This job can be very alluring to those who love pets or for someone looking for an easy side gig.

15. Tradesman

Being a tradesman, such as a plumber, carpenter, or electrician, usually does not require a college degree, but in some cases an associate’s degree provides the educational path towards skilled labor jobs with a high average hourly rate—between $45 and $200 for a plumber, $50 to $100 for an electrician, and $35 to $100 for a carpenter. Such an average hourly rate reflects the skill sets that these tradesmen possess and often translates to a high paying annual salary.

If you like working with your hands and want to turn those skills into a high paying job, being a tradesman might be for you.

Easy Jobs That Pay Well Offer a Balanced Lifestyle

These listed jobs have great average pay, and don’t require much in the way of formal education or even prior work experience to get accepted into the career path. They are great options for people who value work life balance and want to start working immediately.

These easy jobs that pay well are all a great launching point for creating a fulfilling, financially independent life. Not just from the salaries themselves, but from what you can accomplish with the saved time, stress, and money. It opens the opportunity to travel, pursue a hobby, or even start a business.

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