You can do well in any trade by showing up and just giving a shit.
Truth right here, between what I've had to pay for various GCs, HVAC, painters, landscapers, etc over the years professionally and personally that ones that show up and communicate are typically very successful.
Now there's even a potential PE exit for many smaller scale guys.
Private equity firms are showing particular interest in HVAC, plumbing and electrical, said Te-Ping Chen with the Wall Street Journal.
www.marketplace.org
Then there's nuanced trades, like medical gas (oxygen, nitrogen) again another field with tremendous opportunity.
I'm having a hell of a time finding LVNs with venipuncture skills, the schools don't even teach them it's sad. They have schooling ranging from $20k -$40k for jobs that pay $25-30/hr. I'm offering $40/hr full medical, dental, vision coverage, 401k with match, cash bonus program AND pension. Full package is over $100k to start and no one has the skillset.
On the college side I'm in alignment with the chart regarding lifetime earnings, but there's also caveats. Big 4 accounting firms in major metro-areas will be offering $90k to start, salary typically doubles ever 5 years. That's with a basic 4 year degree in accounting, huge payoff if you have the work ethic.
On the flip side for a basic MD you have 12 years of schooling and debt, without going into a specialty, derm, plastics, surgery your earnings aren't good and you're most likely a slave to the hospital/insurance system. All of it worse if you're a woman. It's harder and harder to make good money in medicine.
Bottom line, lots of opportunity paths, lots of pitfalls, hard for a kid to be able to do their due diligence on career paths. Learning to network, find a mentor and peel back a few layers on the surface of career options can really yield that ROI.
