As technology evolves, some skills become more sought after than others. Wondering where the money is at? I've put together 15 of the best high-income skills to help you make smarter career decisions.
The race is on to adapt to the changing job market. If you're looking to pursue a lucrative career, I suggest checking out which skills are in-demand and handsomely paid. Most of these skills are technology-related and just what you’d expect in a highly-connected, Internet-reliant world.
Have zero knowledge about the items listed below? Don’t fret. I included ways to get started learning the skills, how much you can expect to earn, and how to make money with each skill.
With hard work and determination to learn, acquiring a high-income skill means setting yourself above the rest.
Table of Contents
What is a high-income skill?
High-income skills are generally described as skills that could earn you a six-figure income every year (around $10,000 to $20,000 per month). Most of these skills satisfy current market demand, and while they're extremely relevant to the needs of today, they are also evergreen – which means they will come in handy for the rest of your life.
If you're looking for a side hustle, you may want to consider learning any of these skills while they're extremely lucrative.
How do you develop high-income skills?
If you're reading this guide looking for a list of high-income skills, it's safe to assume that you find your current skill set to be lackluster.
I wrote this guide for you. Before we dive in, here are a few tips:
- Set aside time each day to focus on building new skills. Let’s make this clear: there are usually no shortcuts in learning a new skill. Real hard work is required.
- Have a specific game plan for building a new skill. Make sure to draw out what steps you need to take to master each skill.
- Analyze your resources. Take a step back and look at the resources available in front of you. The most powerful resource is already yours: the internet. The worldwide web is a vast resource of knowledge, and you can develop most of these skills through online study. Some skills, however, require offline work to practice.
- Invest in learning. While free online guides and hand-me-down books may offer you skeletal knowledge of a skill, you may need to dole out cash to get access to experts. Check out paid lessons, and don't skimp on the quality of learning.
- Apply your skill for practice. The best way to learn skills is to apply them in real-world projects. If you're mastering how to create websites, volunteer to do web development for free. Interested in mobile app development? Find a friend or family member looking to enlist your skills, and do pro bono work. You'll learn from the process, and you'll have something to add to your portfolio as well.
What are good high-income skills?
UX Design
As the technology market evolves, the demand for UX designers has radically increased. UX designers are tasked with making sure that every product and service – apps, websites, services, and machines – provide a seamless user experience.
UX designers make sure that products and technologies are usable, accessible, and enjoyable for humans, always advocating for the end-user or customer.
How to learn it:
UX design combines aspects of business, psychology, design, technology, and market research – it's an extremely varied discipline that takes some time to learn.
Improve your skills by taking online courses from CodeAcademy. It's simply the best way to learn from top UX designers and coders.
You'll get 50% off when you sign up.
How much you’ll make:
Entry-level designers can make around $80,000 per year. More experienced designers can earn around $110,000 and up.
Video Production
Among all media types, video content is arguably the most powerful, which is why YouTube is such a massive success. People are 12 times more likely to watch a video than read text, which is the reason why businesses are looking for skilled video producers to strengthen their marketing.
Video producers create film and video projects such as documentaries, commercials, training videos, and various visual media.
How to learn it:
You'll need good equipment to start video editing (e.g. camera, computer, video editing software, microphone). Consider taking a video production online course to improve your skills.
A great option for this would be to take a course with Udemy on video editing.
How much you'll earn:
Depends if you're working for an independent or major video production company. You'll most likely earn around $80,000 to $100,000 per year.
See Related: 3 YouTube Secrets You’ll Never Hear from the Pros
Software development
If you already work in the field of web development or information technology, consider upping the ante on your skills by learning software development. Software developers are in charge of designing, identifying, installing, and testing software systems that are tailor-made for a company.
How to learn it:
Learning to code is relatively easy, but there's a difference between creating software and creating great software. Apart from having the chops for learning programming languages like Java, Python, or JavaScript, you'll need constant hands-on practice in building your own software.
Check out CodeAcademy for beginner to advanced tutorials on modern software development tools and techniques. You'll get 50% off when you sign up.
How much you'll make:
The average U.S. salary for a software developer is $104,480 annually.
Audio Production
Audio production delves into the practice of recording audio and editing it to make it sound a specific way. Today, podcasting is all the rage, and companies are starting to become more and more competitive in their recording capabilities.
The radio, music, and entertainment industries usually have the highest demand for audio producers, but companies like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and the US Army are looking for audio producers too.
How to learn it:
This skill requires a lot of training, but you can get started with online classes and videos to learn the basics.
You'll also need a variety of equipment to begin (e.g. a computer, microphone, studio-quality headphones, and programs for editing and recording).
How much you'll earn:
Around $75,000 each year or more as an audio production engineer.
Translation
A globally-connected world means overcoming language barriers, and translators are highly sought after. Top-paying translation languages include German, Arabic, French, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Italian, and Mandarin.
Learning these languages and how to translate them is not only a great resume addition but will also allow you to network with people of different nationalities in the future.
How to learn it:
Apart from online classes, you'll find a plethora of language learning apps available for download including Duolingo, Babbel, Memrise, and Busuu.
You'll have to pay for a subscription. Thankfully, there are affordable options (Busuu's Premium subscription costs $6 per month).
How much you'll earn:
Around $70,000 or more a year as a translator.
See Related: 8 Ways to Get Paid to Read Books
Sales Leadership
This comes as no surprise – sales is one of the few skills that has remained highly sought after through the years, which makes sales leaders highly essential for businesses.
Learning how to grow company revenue while being able to motivate teams and act upon market trends opens a vast new world of possibilities. If you're knowledgeable about markets and building businesses, this skill is worthwhile to learn.
How to learn it:
Mastering sales leadership isn't something you'll be able to do by setting aside a few hours per day. While established sales leaders have years of professional experience with handling various projects, you can improve your sales expertise by getting sales certifications from CISP, CPSP, or RISE Up Sales Certifications.
How much you'll earn:
Sales jobs vary widely in pay, but you can expect to earn six figures annually, especially from industries like real estate, tech, and financial services.
Mobile app development
The mobile app market is growing faster every year, and studies show that in-app advertising will be the key driver of mobile growth over the years.
The good news: since most major companies nowadays have an app for their business, the job market for app developers is thriving, making it one of the best skills to make more money. The not so good news: app development is not an easy skill to learn.
How to learn it:
To create an app, you'll need a variety of skills which include graphic design and coding. Thankfully, you'll find thousands of guides for DIY app creation. You may also want to consider joining coding boot camps to improve your app-building skills.
How much you'll earn:
Around $105,000 to $140,000.
Business Analysis
Straddling the line between business and IT, business analysts help guide companies in improving their services, processes, software, and products through data analysis.
With the area of focus depending on the role, business analysts are tasked to work with data sets to see which elements of a business they may improve.
How to learn it:
Successful business analysts are versatile in a variety of business functions including finance, engineering, operations, architecture, and technology. The work involved is highly complex, but you can brush up on the basics with crash courses to kickstart your BA career.
How much you'll make:
Typical U.S. salaries for business analysts range anywhere between $45,000 to $110,000, with up to 10% bonuses.
See Related: 8 Best Service Business Examples
Digital Marketing
Social media is all the rage, so if your Facebook and Instagram game is good, you may want to take it a step further and learn more about digital marketing consulting.
Digital marketing consultants help identify effective ways of marketing and advertising services and products using digital technologies. They do this by developing marketing strategies, suggesting improvements, and discovering opportunities for customer engagement.
How to learn it:
Digital marketers need to learn a variety of skills to become an expert. These include search engine optimization, inbound marketing, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and the use of various digital marketing analytics tools. You can take a digital marketing course with Udemy, one of the best websites to learn high-income skills.
How much you'll make:
Around $70,000 to $90,000 per year.
Affiliate marketing
If you have a strong online presence from blogging or social media, you can capitalize on it with affiliate marketing. Through affiliate marketing, you can earn a commission by promoting the products or services of other businesses. You can select a product or service that you like, promote it on your platform through a special link, and earn a piece of the profit from every sale made through the link.
How to learn it:
Affiliate marketing isn't rocket science, but there's a science required to generate traffic on your platform. Without traffic, you won't earn, so you may need to learn the basics of SEO. Read up on the best books right here.
How much you'll make:
Making money is easy with affiliate marketing, especially if you're looking for passive income.
Low-level affiliates can make up to $300 per day, while high-level affiliates can earn up to $3,000 a day.
See Related: 20 Best Affiliate Programs to Earn Extra Income
Computational science
Also known as scientific computing, this skill involves using advanced computing capabilities to solve and understand highly complex problems. In a nutshell, computational scientists use computers to perform numerical analysis or simulations of a process or scientific system.
Companies that are looking to develop machine learning models or apply analytical or statistical approaches to large datasets need the help of scientific computing experts.
How to learn it:
A variety of learning courses are available on LinkedIn. Check out Learning MATLAB with Steven Mosner or Parallel and Concurrent Programming with Python 1 by Olivia Chiu Stone and Barron Stone.
How much you'll make:
The average salary for a computer scientist in the U.S. is $99,050 a year.
Analytical Reasoning
This skill involves the capability to look for themes and patterns within a set of information through a rational decision-making model. The goal is to arrive at data-driven insights and conclusions. By looking at a situation's key components with analytical reasoning, you can see how they relate to one another.
How to learn it:
Analytical reasoning may look like a mere soft skill, but it's one of the most important to learn when you're mastering other hard skills such as machine learning, computer programming, or using data analytics tools. Consider reading Linkedin Learning modules by Robin Hunt or Dorie Clark.
How much you'll make:
Your earnings can vary widely depending on what type of job you'll be using this skill for, but analytical reasoning is a high-income skill used in a variety of IT industries that can pay you six figures a year.
See Related: 16 Ways to Get Paid to Code Online
Artificial Intelligence
With robots becoming more and more sophisticated, professionals with skills in artificial intelligence are becoming more and more in demand.
In 2020, there will be around 2.3 million jobs related to artificial intelligence, and employer demand for AI skills and positions has more than doubled since 2015, making it one of the best high-income skills.
How to learn it:
AI is highly complex if you lack prior experience, but you'll need a strong foundation in math and science-related topics like probability, statistics, algebra, calculus, programming, data structures, and logic, among others.
Without a college degree or equivalent, this may be tough to learn.
How much you'll make:
AI engineers make as much as $130,000 per year or even more.
See Related: How to Make Money With Machine Learning: 13 Ways To Earn With AI
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing involves working with remote servers (the cloud) to manage and store data instead of using a computer or personal network. There has been exponential growth in cloud computing over the past decade, and most businesses are scurrying to host their data on the cloud instead of using traditional private servers.
It's so big that it's poised to become a $241 billion market by 2020.
How to learn it:
Cloud computing involves a plethora of aspects, which include advanced networking, cloud security, programming languages and coding, database management, and even artificial intelligence. Consider brushing up on the basics with online courses from Udemy.
How much you’ll make:
You can earn as much as $200,000 as a cloud computing engineer, and even more with STEM and tech skills.
Blockchain
In a nutshell, blockchain is a new technology that involves groups of transactions or a sequence of blocks. These groups and sequences are chained together and distributed among a number of users. Blockchains remove the need for external authorities, like banks, for example, to validate the integrity and authenticity of data.
The technology enables the existence of cryptocurrency, among other things.
How to learn it:
Mastering blockchain requires learning skills in various areas including programming, data structures, and web applications. Consider taking an online course to learn the basics.
How much you'll make:
Around $160,000 as a blockchain developer.
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