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- 10 High-Income Skills to Learn
10 High-Income Skills to Learn
Make anywhere from $98K to over $600K with these skills
If your paycheck isn’t stretching as far as it used to, you’re not alone! With rising costs and stagnant wages, leveling up your earning potential is more crucial than ever.
The key? 🗝️ High-income skills—specialized, in-demand abilities that can land you a six-figure salary.
The best part? You don’t need a degree to get there. Companies are ditching degree requirements, and workers who develop the right skills are cashing in. 🫰
We’ve interviewed professionals across the U.S. and gathered real salary data to uncover the top skills that can boost your career (and bank account). Let’s dive in!
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High-income skills are a mix of hard skills, soft skills, and transferable skills. They include specialized abilities and knowledge areas, are in high demand, and have a high value among employers.
Due to this, they tend to bring in higher salaries and have a fair amount of job openings, making it easier for folks to earn more and bounce back quicker after going through a layoff or job change.
We went through our Salary Database, job projections from the BLS and the Future of Jobs Report 2025 to uncover the most in-demand, high-paying skills. Here are the results!
1. Digital Marketing
Marketing fuels business success. Without it, brands struggle to stay visible, generate revenue, and grow. Digital marketing is now one of the highest-paying creative fields, encompassing skills like SEO (search engine optimization), email marketing, social media strategy, and marketing management.
Key Skills: SEO, Google Analytics, social media platform management
Median Salary: $156,580/year
Highest Salary Recorded in Our Database: $230,000/year
Job Outlook (2022-2032): 6% growth
Potential Job Titles: Digital Marketing Manager, SEO Specialist, Content Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Email Marketing Specialist
Learn It: Get this free digital marketing certificate from Hubspot Academy
2. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Industries like healthcare, finance, education, and more are all incorporating AI to move faster and smarter. Machine learning (ML) is a type of AI where computers learn from data to make predictions and automate decisions without being explicitly programmed, making it one of the most in-demand tech skills.
Key Skills: Programming languages (Python, R), ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch), deep learning methods, data science
Median Salary: $145,080/year
Highest Salary Recorded in Our Database: $550,000/year (Director of Machine Learning at Glassdoor)
Job Outlook (2023-2027): 80% growth
Potential Job Titles: Machine Learning Engineer, AI Engineer, Research Scientist (AI/ML), AI Prompt Engineer, Deep Learning Engineer
Learn It: Explore AI courses from Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Google
@salarytransparentstreet How much does an #AI/#ML #DataScientist make?📍Washington, DC Explore 17 different Data Scientist certifications that @Indeed recommends a... See more
3. Programming & Coding
Programming and coding are pretty straightforward - they require proficiency in various programming languages, depending on your specialization. Since code connects different systems and data, an understanding of data structures and databases is also encouraged. Many of these skills are foundational to tech jobs, and you don’t need a degree to learn them. In fact, 70% of developers are self-taught (Stack Overflow Survey)!
Key Skills: Programming languages (C++, Python, Javascript, Java, SQL), data structures, databases (SQL, MongoDB)
Median Salary: $130,160/year
Highest Salary Recorded in Our Database: $450,000/year (Software Engineer at Block)
Job Outlook (2022-2032): 17% growth
Potential Job Titles: Software Engineer, Web Developer, Application Developer, DevOps Engineer, Full-Stack Developer
Learn It: Take free coding courses on Codecademy (or this free coding class for women from SheCodes)
Gaining high-income skills is just the first step—it’s up to you to keep negotiating your salary and pushing for future raises to maximize your earning potential.
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