The Best Jobs That Don't Always Require A College Degree: CareerCast

The Best Jobs That Don't Always Require A College Degree

During his weekly radio show last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg encouraged "so so" students to think about not going to college and consider a job in plumbing.

"Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College -- being a plumber, actually for the average person, probably would be a better deal," Bloomberg said.

In fact, plumbers earn an average annual salary of $46,660 and the profession is expected to see a 26 percent increase in open positions over the next seven years, according to CareerCast.com.

As the job market begrudgingly begins to improve, work opportunities are growing for high school graduates and workers with some post-high school training, a report from CareerCast.com reveals. The job search website ranked the best jobs that don't require a four-year degree, taking into account annual salary, projected growth in the industry and overall reported job satisfaction.

Jobs in web development, for example, earn $75,660 a year and the market is expected to grow by 22 percent by 2020, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled by CareerCast.com.

But you may want to take Mayor Bloomberg's advice with a grain of salt. While the national unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, 7.4 percent of high school graduates without a college degree are unemployed, according to the BLS. This compares to a 3.9 percent unemployment rate among Americans with a college degree or higher.

Here are the 14 best jobs that don't always require a college degree, according to CareerCast.com:

Web Developer

Best Jobs Without A College Degree

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