In short
Many jobs pay around $20 an hour without a degree, including customer service representatives, office clerks, maintenance workers, construction laborers, light truck drivers and medical secretaries. In May 2025 BLS data, these jobs have medians between about $41,600 and $52,000 a year and usually need only a high school diploma or on-the-job training.
Jobs with a median of $20 to $25 an hour
| # | Job | Median pay | Typical way in | Growth 2025 to 2035 | Openings a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer service representatives (BLS) | $44,770 | High school or GED | a decline of 5.3% | 289,500 |
| 2 | Office clerks, general (BLS) | $45,010 | High school or GED | a decline of 6% | 249,000 |
| 3 | Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (BLS) | $47,540 | High school or GED | a decline of 6% | 163,900 |
| 4 | Maintenance and repair workers, general (BLS) | $49,590 | High school or GED | 4.2% | 148,700 |
| 5 | Construction laborers (BLS) | $47,120 | No diploma needed | 7.3% | 120,000 |
| 6 | Light truck drivers (BLS) | $44,860 | High school or GED | 6.3% | 107,200 |
| 7 | Medical secretaries and administrative assistants | $45,930 | High school or GED | 4.8% | 89,200 |
| 8 | Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors (BLS) | $47,160 | High school or GED | 7.3% | 68,000 |
| 9 | Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (BLS) | $48,570 | High school or GED | 2.5% | 66,700 |
| 10 | Industrial truck and tractor operators (BLS) | $46,420 | No diploma needed | 1.5% | 64,700 |
| 11 | Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks (BLS) | $45,260 | High school or GED | a decline of 7.6% | 61,300 |
| 12 | Bus drivers, school (BLS) | $47,920 | High school or GED | 0.7% | 56,500 |
| 13 | Self-enrichment teachers | $46,800 | High school or GED | 3.5% | 50,000 |
| 14 | Social and human service assistants (BLS) | $45,930 | High school or GED | 7.4% | 48,900 |
| 15 | Pharmacy technicians | $45,750 | High school or GED | 6.4% | 44,700 |
| 16 | Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders | $43,220 | High school or GED | 4.1% | 41,400 |
| 17 | Billing and posting clerks (BLS) | $48,500 | High school or GED | a decline of 0.1% | 37,000 |
| 18 | Tellers (BLS) | $43,030 | High school or GED | a decline of 13.2% | 26,800 |
| 19 | Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers (BLS) | $45,850 | High school or GED | 5% | 25,900 |
| 20 | Painters, construction and maintenance (BLS) | $49,400 | No diploma needed | 3% | 24,900 |
| 21 | Food batchmakers (BLS) | $42,290 | High school or GED | 6.5% | 23,100 |
| 22 | Taxi drivers (BLS) | $42,100 | No diploma needed | 11.5% | 20,400 |
| 23 | Insurance claims and policy processing clerks (BLS) | $49,230 | High school or GED | a decline of 1.9% | 17,500 |
| 24 | Court, municipal, and license clerks (BLS) | $48,700 | High school or GED | 3.4% | 17,100 |
| 25 | Residential advisors | $42,240 | High school or GED | 3.5% | 16,500 |
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035 (Table 1.2), May 2025 median wages, retrieved 2026-10-09. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or switch fields.
Remember the median is the middle
Half the people in each job earn less than the median and half earn more. A new hire might start a few dollars below it. Use the hourly to yearly calculator to see what a starting rate means for your budget.
Moving past $20
Many of these jobs have a next step: a maintenance worker can train toward HVAC, a construction laborer can apply for an apprenticeship. See the $25 an hour list for where those steps lead.
Questions people ask
How much is $20 an hour a year?
About $41,600 before taxes at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.
What jobs pay $20 an hour with no experience?
Jobs with short on-the-job training, like construction laborer or delivery driver, often pay near that in many areas.
Do these pay $20 everywhere?
No. Pay is higher in expensive cities and lower in rural areas.