Any other ways to make a six figure income in NOVA with a College Degree (school)

[Abraham Walker]

//www.city-data.com/zips/22315.html

Here are some stats from my zip code I saw on City data:

• median income - $96,917
• bachelor's degrees - 33.8%
• master's degrees - 24%
• professional school - 5.3%
• doctorate degree - 3%

Do you know of any jobs in the area that do not require a college degree to make $96,917 a year?

As the cost of attending school continues to outpace inflation, I wonder if we will start to see more opportunities open up for non-college graduates.

[ChristineVA]

There are jobs that have people in them without degrees that are making that much, if not more. However, just starting out, there does seem to be the requirement to have a 4-year degree. The only field that you can probably do without the degree is in IT and most time coding classes and certifications are the ticket.

[HokieFan]

I would hazard a guess that someone skilled in a trade with a license and/or certifications and experience could possibly make that salary. An electrican, a lineman, etc.

[Abraham Walker]

Thanks for the info. I wonder if you can obtain a job with the government in coding without a degree?

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

There are jobs that have people in them without degrees that are making that much, if not more. However, just starting out, there does seem to be the requirement to have a 4-year degree. The only field that you can probably do without the degree is in IT and most time coding classes and certifications are the ticket.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by Abraham Walker

Thanks for the info. I wonder if you can obtain a job with the government in coding without a degree?

I would look at some of the open announcements on USA Jobs for jobs like that to see what the education requirements are.

[boyd888]

Where did you get your data from? The page you linked for 22315 says
Bachelor's degree or higher: 66.0%
Graduate or professional degree: 32.3%

This salary data is skewed by quite a few baby boomers that took jobs in their younger years that now require bachelor's degree at the entry level. Don't underestimate the effect of 'degree creep' on salary data. Positions that low reqs are now bachelors, what was bachelors in the 80/90s is now masters required, etc. One very common example is nursing - for decades this was an associate’s degree, now some places won't even hire new grads without a BSN (but they will still hire the nurse with 30 years of experience who only has an associates).

Also people in trades with decades of experience.

For a person in their early 20s to be making $100K with no degree? Likely working in/taking over the family business or similar. Working in the oil fields was also pretty lucrative for a while.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by Abraham Walker

Thanks for the info. I wonder if you can obtain a job with the government in coding without a degree?

It's possible if you have real work experience, and certifications will help. The preponderance of software jobs in the federal government are with contractors, however, and employers vary in how stringent they are with the degree requirement. I don't have a bachelor's and when my employer became the sub to another contractor on our govt contract, an exclusion had to be written for me because the prime contractor had a minimum requirement of bachelor's degree. They use this as a selling point in their bids. I also was fortunate to get in at the ground level during the dot-com days (not with government), which enabled me to build work experience that, in later jobs, allowed me to get in without a degree. I'm sure I've been passed over by employers, though, and had my opportunities limited, so I wouldn't conclude that a degree is unimportant.