Education In Relation To Pay
More study usually means more money — but not evenly, and not in every field. This page compares median pay at each qualification level against the years of study it demands, so you can see which credentials genuinely pay for themselves.
No formal qualification required
$42,000
- Median pay
- $42,000
- Avg study years
- 0.0
- Pay per study year
- $42,000
- Professions
- 44
Best paid at this level: Business Owner / Founder at $410,000.
Short course / certificate or licence
$62,000
- Median pay
- $62,000
- Avg study years
- 1.0
- Pay per study year
- $31,000
- Professions
- 61
Best paid at this level: Air Traffic Controller at $160,000.
Apprenticeship / trade qualification
$72,000
- Median pay
- $72,000
- Avg study years
- 3.6
- Pay per study year
- $15,683
- Professions
- 22
Best paid at this level: Lift / Elevator Technician at $92,000.
Diploma or associate degree
$96,000
- Median pay
- $96,000
- Avg study years
- 2.3
- Pay per study year
- $29,538
- Professions
- 20
Best paid at this level: Airline Captain at $240,000.
Bachelor degree
$118,000
- Median pay
- $118,000
- Avg study years
- 3.9
- Pay per study year
- $24,330
- Professions
- 60
Best paid at this level: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at $820,000.
Postgraduate degree or professional licence
$165,000
- Median pay
- $165,000
- Avg study years
- 5.9
- Pay per study year
- $23,897
- Professions
- 21
Best paid at this level: Investment Bank Managing Director at $620,000.
Doctorate / specialist fellowship
$395,000
- Median pay
- $395,000
- Avg study years
- 12.0
- Pay per study year
- $30,491
- Professions
- 22
Best paid at this level: Neurosurgeon at $616,000.
What the numbers actually say
The doctorate and postgraduate tiers sit at the top of the pay table, and that is real — medicine, specialist surgery, law partnership and senior actuarial work are not accessible any other way. But read the study column beside it. A surgical career is eight to fifteen years of training and deferred income before the headline salary arrives, so the lifetime comparison is much tighter than the annual figure suggests.
The bachelor degree tier is the widest and most uneven band on the site. Engineering, computer science, actuarial studies and finance degrees produce strong, durable salaries. Other degrees at the same tuition cost produce median salaries below several licensed trades. The credential is not the variable that matters most — the demand for the specific skill is.
Apprenticeships are the most efficient pathway on the entire list once you divide pay by study cost. You are paid throughout, you finish with a legally protected licence, and self-employment roughly doubles the ceiling. Certificates and short licences perform similarly well in resources, transport and high-risk plant work, where a few weeks of training unlocks a six-figure roster.
The no-qualification tier splits in two. Most of it is genuinely low paid: cleaning, kitchen work, food production and retail. But sitting inside the same tier are commission sales roles and business ownership, which are among the highest earners on the whole site. Education is one route to income; selling and owning are the others.