5 Most Dangerous Jobs That Don’t Need Training — And How Much They Pay
Written by
G. Brian Davis
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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A study released in September by Resume Now showcased the most dangerous jobs in America at both the lower and higher ends of the earnings spectrum.
Pilots earn nearly $200,000 a year and require hundreds or even thousands of hours of training. Many high-danger jobs don’t require any training, which is precisely why they don’t pay well. And, perhaps, adds to the danger, as well.
Resume Now created the list by looking at the jobs with the highest fatality rates among workers, and analyzing their median annual pay. These five proved the most dangerous jobs in America that pay less than $60,000 per year.
Truck Drivers
- Median pay: $57,440
With 984 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2023 (the most recent data available), driving saw a fatality rate more than triple the next most dangerous job.
“Driving offers workers something that society often overlooks: Stability and autonomy,” explains Jan Hendrik von Ahlen, managing director of JobLeads.
Plenty of workers love driving trucks, despite the travel, long hours and risk. Von Ahlen added that AI will change the industry, and sooner rather than later.
“Smarter machines will help reduce some physical risks,” he stated, but that doesn’t mean drivers are excited to see their ranks decimated by autonomous vehicles. Many would rather the industry stay the same than see safer but fewer jobs.
Construction Laborers
- Median pay: $46,050
Construction workers also use heavy machinery sometimes and also face danger from extreme weather. Some also work at dangerous heights. Their fatality rate of 318 only looks low compared to truck drivers.
Guillermo Triana, human resources consultant and founder of PEO-Marketplace.com, notes that the danger creeps up as workers grow complacent about it. “Fatalities aren’t always ‘one fall,’ but a gradual decline in risk assessment. Culture is deadlier than an equipment malfunction.”
Grounds Maintenance Workers
- Median pay: $38,470
These laborers also work with dangerous machinery, from tractor mowers to chainsaws. They also sometimes work at heights, leading to falls. Grounds maintenance workers experienced a fatality rate of 226 and don’t enjoy the same autonomy as truck drivers either.
Agricultural Workers
- Median pay: $35,980
Earning even less than grounds workers, agricultural workers face their own share of danger, with a fatality rate of 146. Triana said heavy equipment is only one of many risks for these workers.
“Weather, topography, a moment of inattention near a truck are less quantifiable. The jobs are ‘dangerous,’ but the danger is day to day, not event to event,” according to Triana. And again, that leads to complacency.
Freight Movers and Laborers
- Median pay: $37,680
These workers earn similarly modest paychecks and face a similar fatality rate of 114.
They face dangers from equipment like forklifts and trucks, of course. But fatalities aside, they also experience high injury rates from lifting heavy objects, including both strains and crushing injuries.
Paychecks work on the fundamental principle of supply and demand. The more you level up your skills — especially in fields with high demand — the fewer workers can compete with you for jobs, and the more you’ll make.
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