21 Jobs That Secretly Pay Way, Wayyyyy More Than You Might Think

A Reddit thread catalogs more than 20 unexpected high-paying roles with reported incomes ranging from $32/hour (Costco gas attendant) to commission payouts quoted at $300k–$500k (electrical supply inside sales). Notable reported figures include a poker dealer best month of $21,000, train/locomotive engineers near $270,000, photographers earning $130k–$400k, plumbers and union elevator mechanics commonly in the $100k–$200k range, and nursing-home administrators near $200k. The piece underscores labor-market frictions and skill shortages (trades, CDL, specialized technicians) that are driving above-average pay in non-degree roles rather than conveying any market-moving economic data.

Analysis

The market is undergoing a structural re-pricing of labor segments that historically sat below headline wage growth; that re-pricing is cascading into higher service margins for firms that can either capture the uptick (membership/fee models) or internalize it via productivity improvements (automation, routing optimization). Expect the initial earnings impact to show up in the next 1–4 quarters as firms report higher wage comps and higher attrition costs, and a second wave over 1–3 years as capex for automation and training replaces repeated wage uplifts.

Immediate winners are businesses with sticky revenue per customer or high switching costs and those that operate logistics networks where improved labor economics reduce churn-driven disruption; losers are mid-market retailers and contractors that compete on labor intensity without pricing power. Healthcare staffing and specialized vocational training providers are latent beneficiaries — they monetize supply shortages with high margin placement fees, which can expand quickly if supply-side tightness persists.

Tail risks include a cyclical demand hit that removes employers’ need to raise wages, a large-scale immigration or certification-scaling program that restores supply within 12–24 months, or technology (robotics/AI) accelerating faster-than-expected substitution in specific roles. Contrarian view: consensus treats these wage moves as transitory; instead, we see them as semi-permanent wage floors for many blue-collar and credentialed middle-skill roles, compressing aggregate corporate margin unless pricing power or automation offsets are deployed — an advantage to firms that can convert higher unit labor costs into differentiated, recurring-revenue products.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Overweight COST (6–12 month horizon): buy shares equal to 2–4% NAV. Rationale: membership/fee model lets management more cleanly pass through higher operating costs versus unit-margin retailers. Target 20–30% upside; use a 12% stop-loss if same-store metrics deteriorate.
• Long UPS (3–9 month horizon) via a 6–9 month call spread sized to 1–2% NAV (buy calls / sell higher strike): thesis is lower turnover and routing efficiency reduce overtime and service disruptions, driving margin tailwind. Reward: asymmetric upside if market re-rates logistics reliability; Risk: demand shock – cap loss to option premium.
• Pair trade — long COST / short TGT (6–12 months), equal notional (1–2% NAV each leg): hedge macro consumption risk while expressing preference for a pricing-power/operator advantage over a promotional, traffic-driven retailer. Exit if margins re-converge within one quarter or CPI-driven consumption falls >2% YoY.
• Tactical hedge — buy a small allocation (0.5–1% NAV) to short-dated protection (put options) on AMZN or WMT for 3–6 months if signs of decelerating e-commerce volumes emerge: this protects against a rapid rotation away from discretionary spending that would hurt high fixed-cost logistics/automation investments. Risk: premium paid if no demand shock materializes.