Original Analysis — September 2026
The Highest Paying Trades, Ranked By How Fast They Pay Back
Every ranking of high-paying trades lists salaries. None of them tell you what the training costs. We took the federal data on both and ranked 58 programs by how many months of gross pay it takes to cover the median debt.
See The Full RankingBuilt entirely from U.S. Department of Education data. Method published below.
A trade program pays back fastest when the debt it leaves behind is small relative to what graduates earn straight after. On that measure the leader is Ground Transportation at certificate level, at 2.2 months of gross pay to cover the median federal debt of $7,875, against median earnings of $43,172 one year after completion.
This matters because salary alone is a misleading way to choose a trade. A program can pay well and still be a poor deal if it costs three times as much as the one next door. Across the 58 programs measured, the gap between the fastest and slowest to pay back is 4.1x, and it does not follow the salary ranking.
Every figure below comes from the same federal dataset, covering 12,067 program offerings across US institutions. Nothing is modelled or estimated. Where the Department of Education suppressed a value for privacy, the program was excluded rather than filled in.
What The Data Shows
Four findings that do not appear in a salary ranking
The Ranking
58 trade programs, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Click any column heading to sort. Lower is better.
| Program▲▼ | Credential▲▼ | Median debt▲▼ | Earnings, 1 yr▲▼ | Months to cover▲▼ | Schools▲▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground TransportationCDL and truck driving | Certificate | $7,875 | $43,172 | 2.2 | 118 |
| Electromechanical Technologies/Technicianselectromechanical and mechatronics | Certificate | $9,500 | $50,556 | 2.3 | 27 |
| Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Techniciansheavy equipment technician | Certificate | $9,500 | $50,096 | 2.3 | 71 |
| Fire Protectionfirefighting | Certificate | $9,557 | $47,024 | 2.4 | 42 |
| Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Techniciansheavy equipment technician | Associate | $12,000 | $55,532 | 2.6 | 38 |
| Electromechanical Technologies/Technicianselectromechanical and mechatronics | Associate | $13,104 | $58,334 | 2.7 | 74 |
| Industrial Production Technologies/Techniciansindustrial production | Associate | $13,500 | $56,704 | 2.9 | 47 |
| Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicianselectrical engineering technology | Associate | $14,236 | $57,481 | 3.0 | 77 |
| Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicianselectronics maintenance and repair | Certificate | $8,448 | $34,287 | 3.0 | 58 |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installerselectrician and lineworker | Certificate | $9,500 | $37,876 | 3.0 | 195 |
| Precision Metal Workingwelding and machining | Certificate | $9,329 | $36,094 | 3.1 | 421 |
| Computer/Information Technology Administration and ManagementIT administration | Certificate | $12,812 | $45,866 | 3.4 | 65 |
| Criminal Justice and Correctionscriminal justice | Certificate | $14,062 | $49,125 | 3.4 | 195 |
| Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Techniciansautomotive technician | Associate | $12,000 | $42,896 | 3.4 | 192 |
| Precision Metal Workingwelding and machining | Associate | $12,000 | $41,875 | 3.4 | 83 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, Generalcomputer science, general | Certificate | $11,000 | $37,808 | 3.5 | 56 |
| Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and Inspectionconstruction finishing | Certificate | $8,380 | $28,485 | 3.5 | 43 |
| Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Techniciansdrafting and CAD | Associate | $13,250 | $45,434 | 3.5 | 47 |
| Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR)HVAC and refrigeration | Certificate | $10,223 | $34,320 | 3.6 | 282 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursingregistered nursing | Associate | $20,865 | $68,342 | 3.7 | 1040 |
| Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Techniciansautomotive technician | Certificate | $11,000 | $35,905 | 3.7 | 354 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professionsdiagnostic and treatment technician | Certificate | $14,167 | $46,000 | 3.7 | 342 |
| Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunicationsnetwork and telecom | Certificate | $11,588 | $36,915 | 3.8 | 32 |
| Environmental Control Technologies/Techniciansenvironmental control | Certificate | $11,250 | $34,220 | 3.9 | 75 |
| Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Techniciansveterinary technician | Certificate | $8,227 | $25,638 | 3.9 | 62 |
| Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistantspractical nursing (LPN/LVN) | Certificate | $15,000 | $44,438 | 4.1 | 885 |
| Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Techniciansmechanical engineering technology | Associate | $16,944 | $49,172 | 4.1 | 43 |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installerselectrician and lineworker | Associate | $14,966 | $43,502 | 4.1 | 70 |
| Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professionsmedical laboratory technician | Certificate | $10,688 | $31,071 | 4.1 | 126 |
| Dental Support Services and Allied Professionsdental assisting and hygiene | Associate | $19,309 | $54,567 | 4.2 | 248 |
| Allied Health and Medical Assisting Servicesmedical assisting | Certificate | $9,500 | $26,939 | 4.2 | 756 |
| Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicianselectronics maintenance and repair | Associate | $15,754 | $44,875 | 4.2 | 29 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professionsdiagnostic and treatment technician | Associate | $19,376 | $54,410 | 4.3 | 624 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Servicesmedical administration | Certificate | $10,498 | $27,690 | 4.5 | 603 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursingregistered nursing | Certificate | $24,772 | $66,398 | 4.5 | 70 |
| Dental Support Services and Allied Professionsdental assisting and hygiene | Certificate | $9,500 | $24,595 | 4.6 | 388 |
| Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistantspractical nursing (LPN/LVN) | Associate | $20,000 | $51,674 | 4.6 | 45 |
| Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, Generalallied health, general | Associate | $12,992 | $33,625 | 4.6 | 63 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, Generalcomputer science, general | Associate | $14,546 | $37,343 | 4.7 | 150 |
| Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Servicesmassage therapy | Certificate | $8,507 | $20,414 | 5.0 | 253 |
| Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR)HVAC and refrigeration | Associate | $17,366 | $41,852 | 5.0 | 44 |
| Criminal Justice and Correctionscriminal justice | Associate | $14,250 | $32,847 | 5.2 | 487 |
| Funeral Service and Mortuary Sciencefuneral service | Associate | $20,000 | $44,695 | 5.4 | 28 |
| Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professionsbehavioral health support | Certificate | $14,519 | $32,312 | 5.4 | 58 |
| Computer Programmingcomputer programming | Associate | $17,108 | $37,074 | 5.5 | 58 |
| Information Science/Studiesinformation science | Associate | $24,788 | $51,734 | 5.7 | 26 |
| Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunicationsnetwork and telecom | Associate | $21,874 | $43,901 | 6.0 | 107 |
| Health/Medical Preparatory Programshealth preparatory | Associate | $13,996 | $28,077 | 6.0 | 30 |
| Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Techniciansveterinary technician | Associate | $18,236 | $36,090 | 6.1 | 148 |
| Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professionsbehavioral health support | Associate | $18,560 | $35,980 | 6.2 | 78 |
| Computer/Information Technology Administration and ManagementIT administration | Associate | $21,480 | $41,726 | 6.2 | 141 |
| Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professionsmedical laboratory technician | Associate | $25,497 | $48,026 | 6.4 | 81 |
| Culinary Arts and Related Servicesculinary arts | Certificate | $11,667 | $21,827 | 6.4 | 105 |
| Allied Health and Medical Assisting Servicesmedical assisting | Associate | $20,000 | $36,350 | 6.6 | 558 |
| Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Servicescosmetology | Certificate | $9,855 | $17,157 | 6.9 | 1233 |
| Culinary Arts and Related Servicesculinary arts | Associate | $16,000 | $26,399 | 7.3 | 121 |
| Public Healthpublic health | Associate | $21,789 | $33,828 | 7.7 | 22 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Servicesmedical administration | Associate | $23,000 | $30,821 | 9.0 | 353 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study (published 9 June 2026). Median debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers. Earnings are median earnings of completers working and not enrolled, one year after completion. Both figures are medians across the institutions offering each program. Programs with fewer than 15 reporting institutions were excluded.
The Finding That Surprised Us
Across every field where both credentials are offered and reported, we compared them directly. The certificate wins in 18 cases out of 21, usually because the debt is roughly 40% lower while first-year earnings are close.
The three exceptions are worth naming: registered nursing, vehicle maintenance and dental support services, where the associate degree pays back faster. In nursing the gap is the widest, and it reflects a licensure step the certificate does not reach.
For a school, this is not an argument against associate degrees. It is an argument for being explicit about which credential suits which student, because prospective students are increasingly running this calculation themselves.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
It is not a loan repayment schedule
Months of gross pay to cover the debt is a ratio, not a payment plan. Nobody repays a loan with their entire gross salary. The number is there to compare programs against each other on a single consistent basis, not to predict anyone’s finances.
It only counts federal loan debt
Private loans, cash payments and employer funding are not in this dataset. A program with low reported debt may simply be one where students pay out of pocket, so the figure understates true cost in some fields.
Medians hide the spread between schools
Every row is a median across institutions. Within a single program, the difference between the best and worst school is often larger than the difference between programs. National medians are a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on any one school.
One year after completion is early
Trades where earnings climb steeply with experience are penalised by a one-year snapshot. The dataset also reports earnings four years out, and the ranking shifts for several programs when you use it.
Method
How this was built, so you can rebuild it
Source. One dataset, no blending: the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study, published 9 June 2026. It is a public file covering 227,980 program records.
Scope. We kept only the credential levels a trade or vocational school actually awards: undergraduate certificates and associate degrees. Bachelor’s and above were excluded.
Aggregation. For each four-digit CIP code and credential level, we took the median across institutions of two reported values: median federal loan debt of completers, and median earnings of completers working and not enrolled one year after completion.
Threshold. A program appears only if at least 15 institutions reported both figures. That is what cuts the list to 58 rows out of 179 candidates.
Suppressed values. The Department of Education withholds figures for small cohorts. Those records were dropped, never estimated or interpolated.
The calculation. Months to cover = median debt divided by (median first-year earnings divided by 12).
If you want to check a specific program against your own numbers, the source file is public and the CIP codes are in the table above.
Go Deeper
The context behind these numbers
By Trade
The same data, one trade at a time
Months of gross pay to cover the median debt, with the schools that teach each one. Ordered fastest to slowest.
For School Operators
If you run one of the programs on this list
Use This Data
Want your program’s real numbers, not the national median?
We run this calculation for individual schools, against their own debt and outcome data, and show them how their programs compare to the national median in the table above. If the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument you own.
Book Your Free Enrollment AuditBy application only — reserved for trade and vocational school operators enrolling 50+ students a year.