Comment by lovich

I really appreciate you following up with a cordial tone, it's so nice to have a respectful conversation with a stranger on the internet in this day and age.

So, this chart has job numbers and count for the following resource extraction/manufacturing related fields with the following average hourly pay and the number of people employed in that field today:

Manufacturing: $35.16 - 12,746k

Mining and logging: $40.33 - 623k

Construction: $39.24 - 8,313k

Transportation and warehousing: $31.19 - 6,738k

The weighted average of this category is $35.53 per hour.

In general, these jobs can mostly be performed without a college degree.

Contrast that with service jobs that can broadly be performed with a college degree:

Retail trade: $25.18 - 15,595k

Leisure and hospitality: $22.75 - 16,991k

Other services: $32.39 - 6,036k

The average hourly rate for this class of jobs is $25.24.

So, on average, manufacturing and extraction jobs not requiring a college education pay 40% more than service jobs of the same requirements.

I'm not one of those people like the top poster who thinks that everyone can just go get a college degree and become an accountant or a nurse. I think there are a lot of people out there who can follow instructions to work machinery reasonably well, but aren't going to be a great fit for jobs that require a substantial education. These people are the majority - about 62% of US adults are not college educated. We either owe them dignified employment, or in a democracy, we will suffer their wrath.