caring for our loved ones and raising the next generation is the single most important job that we have. i think it s time we started making that job a little easier for folks. i like the sound of that. do you think you need a college degree to have a high-paying job? a master plumber brings in $1,000,000 a year. a medical equipment repair man needs only on the job training and can earn $95,000. christine romans is here with a look at six-figure jobs that don t require a four-year degree. i m ready. i m at rapt attention here. what do you want to be when you grow up, tony? it costs a lot of money to go to college, and i want to be very clear that you are still much better off in this economy with a college education. the census data show that over the course of your lifetime you ll make a whole lot more money if you get a degree than if you don t. these are those numbers. median earnings here from the bureau of labor statistics. no high school diploma you ll only make $33 grand.
police manager of detective, court reporter, master plumber. walk over here. i want to show you what happens when you look at the top 10%. $116,000 for a construction superintendent. this is mostly a lot of on-the-job training for these kind of jobs. and also some other specialty extended education. that s another very key thing. especially medical jobs. some of these require a associate s degree. some of them require certification. but no four-year degree and the huge bills that go with that. radiation therapist. icu registered nurse. there are so many jobs in health care. look at the top pay for those, you guys. wow. are you talking overtime or that s just salary? this is median wages. that includes, total compensation. these are from pay scale.com. these are including that.
allowed us to equip her house top to bottom with hidden cameras. then we created a simple problem with her water heater. is there anything currently wrong with this hot water heater? not at all. reporter: mark is a master plumber in phoenix. if you can see there s some water here right now. reporter: all he did was unscrew this nut to create a slow drip. and all you d have to do to fix it is tighten the nut. takes just a few seconds. it looks like my water heat ser leaking in my garage. reporter: here comes the plumber, adrian. jenny heads inside leaving adrian alone in the garage. but he doesn t try to diagnose or fix the problem. instead, he walks around in circles for a while chatting on his cell phone. apparently he s already made up his mind. you need a new water heater. i need a new water heater.