Ten Best Paying Blue Collar Jobs

Times have been tough for America's blue-collar workforce. Union membership has been falling for years and factory jobs producing everything from textiles to cars have either been shipped abroad or disappeared in downsizing after downsizing. Brickmasters and Stonemen are one of several non-executive jobs where the average worker makes close to $60,000 per year, almost double the national average.

But despite all that, there are still some great, high-paying jobs for those who are more apt to wear hard hats and work boots than don pinstripes or tote a briefcase. While services may indeed make up 80% of today's economy, there are always going to be buildings that need constructing, air conditioners and refrigerators that need fixing, and goods that need to be delivered to department stores and supermarkets.

And for those with the skills to work creatively with their hands, there's good money to be made in electrical work, carpentry and other trades. A job as a diesel mechanic, repairing the engines that power transportation equipment like heavy trucks and busses, starts at $20 per hour in the South and pays even more in more expensive areas like New York. As with other lucrative blue-collar occupations, these trades take training, but they promise steady work and better-than-average wages.

Source: Fortune Magazine