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Jobs with the surprisingly low pay
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Forbes
It's no surprise that fast food workers, cashiers and amusement park attendants don't pull in a pretty penny on the job—but did you know most legislators, models and TV announcers earn fairly small paychecks, too?
Forbes combed through data gathered annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Labor Department, to find the 10 most surprising low-paying jobs. The BLS culls its information from surveys it mails to businesses, and it releases its Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates Data each May. The report shares information about hundreds of occupations, including hourly and annual wages, total numbers of workers in the profession, and the states and metro areas that pay the best. To make the cut for our list, the average pay of employees in the profession had to be less than $50,000—when you'd think it would be more.
Marriage and family therapists are mental health professionals who typically diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders within the context of marriage, couples and family systems. The job requires graduate training (a master's or doctoral degree) in marriage and family therapy and usually at least two years of clinical experience, but on average they end up making just $47,530 a year. The bottom 10% of these professionals make a meager $23,870 a year, on average.
Stay away from New York, Wisconsin and Colorado if you're planning to pursue a career in the field. You're likely to make less than $36,200 in those states. Instead, head to Hawaii, Rhode Island or Alaska, where the average annual pay is over $66,000. (Pay is generally likely to be higher in states where the cost of living is higher.)
Other professions that you probably thought paid more than $50,000 a year: Radio and TV announcers and reporters. Announcers generally speak or read from scripted materials, such as news reports or commercial messages—but their voices and personalities earn them only $39,910 a year, on average. The mean pay is as little as $16,590 for the bottom 10% of them. You'll make less than $27,000 working as a radio or television announcer in Wyoming, Oklahoma and Vermont—but you'll earn $93,690, on average, in Washington, D.C.
Pay isn't much better for reporters and correspondents. Those pros gather news by interview, investigation, or observation and share it with the public. Reporting and writing stories for newspapers, magazines, radio, television or other mediums will put $43,780 in your wallet each year, or just $19,970 for the bottom 10%.
Reporters in D.C., New Jersey and Massachusetts make, on average, over $60,000 annually—while those in Arkansas, Iowa and South Dakota earn an average yearly pay of less than $28,000.
Embalmers, firefighters and private investigators also earn less than $50,000 a year, on average. You might expect to make more for a job that requires sanitizing and preserving the deceased—but apparently preparing bodies for interment will only earn you $44,280, and the bottom 10% make a measly $26,630.
You'll make an inadequate $47,730, on average, risking your life to help save others' by controlling and extinguishing fires in emergency situations. Ten percent of firefighters will only earn an average of $23,050 a year doing this important job.
Private investigators and detectives "gather, analyze, compile and report information regarding individuals or organizations to clients, or detect occurrences of unlawful acts or infractions of rules in private establishment," according to the BLS site. They do it all for a skimpy $47,830 annual paycheck—or $25,760 for the bottom 10%.
The list doesn't end there. Click here for a complete list of the 10 most surprising jobs that pay $50,000 or less.
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