20 Professions That Are Shockingly Underpaid & 20 That Are Overpaid — It’s Wild

CEOs often make the most in their companies. In massive companies, the discrepancies between what the CEO and their employees make are often hard to swallow. This Reddit user wasn’t the only one to point directly to CEOs when it came to who was overpaid.

The consensus of the complaints here was that the wages of the CEO versus their employees don’t really account for all of the day-to-day tasks of keeping the business running that’s handed down to employees for a fraction of the pay.

This is one of the clearest answers for who is underpaid. Not only are teachers often underpaid compared to the cost of living but for the services they offer as well.

It makes sense, too. After all, teachers are responsible for making sure children don’t just know what they need to know for class but to prepare them for the future and care for the children during the day as well. Their services are rather invaluable!

Jumping back to an overpaid profession, this Reddit user claimed they knew from experience that pharmaceutical representatives make more than you’d expect. They even gave readers an inside look at how their days would go.

It does seem pretty generous for the amount of work but what’s really striking is their note at the end. That doesn’t quite sound like “research” to us and it seems rather excessive as a whole.

A lot of the things you do in college are costly and time-consuming. So, you would hope to work at your university might help that. As this Reddit user expressed, that isn’t always the case.

Even becoming a teaching assistant at your college may not pay as well as you might hope. Not to mention, they’re taking on this position while going to school, so they’re staying pretty busy and things get fairly expensive!

We think this one would really depend on how successful the influencer in question is. It seems like this person is referring to some of the more successful ones.

Social media influencers often serve as online personalities and usually participate in a lot of sponsorships and advertisements to supplement their income. Sadly, there are also plenty of stories of influencers expecting things from businesses in exchange for “exposure” which tends to aggravate the people offering those goods and services.

When you go out to eat, you’re paying for a few different things. Of course, you’re paying for the food you eat and the ingredients it takes to make it. On top of that, you’re paying for someone to prepare an excellent meal for you.

However, as this Reddit user pointed out, chefs aren’t always paid for all of the work they do. Not only the cooking but all of the physical stress of working in a kitchen as well.

The celebrities you see on TV often make a lot of money. There are a lot of debates over what’s fair and what’s excessive for this type of salary. This Reddit user wasn’t impressed with how much reality TV stars can make, though.

The argument here is often that the pay is really high for creating drama on television without the acting you’d expect from a movie. It seems similar to the complaints against social media influencers.

Anytime you walk into almost any building that isn’t a private residence, you have a janitorial staff to thank for that cleanliness.

However, their paychecks don’t always reflect the essential work they do to keep a place hygienic. As this Redditor pointed out too, janitors often have to deal with a lot while they’re working as well because people don’t always appreciate the service they do as much as they should.

The answer has a couple of points in it. First, it points out how prevalent the answer “real estate agent” or “realtor” was in these threads about who was overpaid.

That wasn’t exactly who this Redditor took an issue with when they answered who they thought were overpaid. Rather, they couldn’t help but notice how much money mortgage loan officers make and how it didn’t quite sit right with them.

This Reddit user argued that despite their higher annual salary, the work that resident physicians go through is pretty intense for the value put on it.

They argue that, for one, physicians do important work, often paired with hours that are near impossible to keep up with. Not to mention, they take a moment to highlight that medical school doesn’t come cheap either, giving resident physicians a staggering bill to pay off.

Company recruiters work to introduce new people to the company and try to recruit them as new employees. They can help a company stay well-staffed. It’s a job that can pay well too, maybe too well, according to this Reddit user.

They argue that the real problem here is the discrepancy between how much a recruiter makes versus how much the people who they actually recruit make once they get started.

There are some jobs you would think would pay well but surprisingly don’t. For this Reddit user, the answer to who’s underpaid brought carpenters to mind. It makes sense, too.

You wouldn’t think someone who builds houses would get paid less than the professionals who come in to do repairs down the line. Not that the latter isn’t important, you would just think that the primary job of construction would be paid more.

This one was a bit more controversial among the answers with people falling on both sides. It seems the majority fell on “overpaid,” though.

The argument here is that even though athletes put their bodies through a lot and its entertainment with high demand, some still find the high salaries athletic stardom can come with difficult to wrap their heads around, like this Reddit user who kept their answer rather direct.

Everyone loves to enjoy a bite to eat while they’re out. Fast food is an easy way to grab those snacks without the wait or even getting out of your car. It’s not easy working in fast food either.

Not only are you working as fast as possible, often around hot oil, but the customers don’t always treat you with respect either. Naturally, this has led some to see a clear solution in raising the pay of the employees who make sure everyone gets their lunch swiftly.

There are a few people who answered these threads with their own positions. This Redditor thought they were overpaid as a product manager for a development team.

As for the hours, they say that the dev team works even harder than them. As if that wasn’t enough, they also note that the skills their dev team uses are ones they don’t have and don’t see why the dev team doesn’t have an increased pay for.

This profession was called out as overpaid on not just the amount they make but the way that they make it. There are some arguments against the paparazzi, though.

Namely, a lot of people find the job of photographing celebrities — especially in moments they don’t consent to be photographed — a bit unsettling. Still, the amount a good photo can make didn’t seem worth it to this Reddit user.

Closed captions and subtitles on the things you watch are crucial. Even if you don’t prefer them, it helps make the content more widely accessible. Of course, this is an industry in which people’s rates can vary quite a bit.

Still, they often don’t get paid much for the work they do to make sure content is available in another visual as well as an auditory manner. This work is a handy tool for a lot of people!

Earlier, we took a look at teachers as one of the most underpaid jobs. On the other hand, it seems like that doesn’t mean education as a whole isn’t lucrative.

This Reddit user was unimpressed with how much the administrative staff at a school could make compared to teachers. From the information this Reddit user included, we can see why someone might want to take on more administrative work as time goes on.

If you live somewhere that you need a car to get around, a mechanic’s services are essential. After all, you can’t just go grab a new one every time your car needs service.

That said, it seems like a mechanic would make a lot of money on their services but this isn’t always the case, especially depending on the type of mechanic you become. As this person points out, it’s a specialized job that takes a lot of knowledge and skill.

Earlier, we discussed the pay of CEOs. One of the hardest things for people to swallow on that one was the discrepancy between their pay and the employees ranked below them.

That’s how this Reddit user felt about upper management in general, even before you get high enough to consider CEOs. The argument here came back to a similar thread: they have a problem with upper management making exponentially more than the people directly carrying out labor tasks.

Childcare is essential for many parents. After all, you can’t always bring your child with you to work or even commit equal focus to them and work. That’s where options like daycare come in and they often come at a cost.

This can make the pay that the people who are working in the daycare a little more jarring. This person knew firsthand that the pay at their daycare at least wasn’t necessarily based on qualifications.

Tech jobs are labeled rather broadly here although they focus a bit more on the programming side of things. This is one that’s a little dicier to get into.

As this person said, the pay may be generous but it seems like this is explained more by high demand rather than just by the labor done. After all, this often means that people and companies are willing to pay more compared to if demand was much lower.

Social workers do a lot! They spend a lot of their time trying to help people but the work isn’t always well-paid or stress-free. Considering the crucial role they play, you may not have expected their pay to swing low.

However, it seems like this is a profession that people like this Reddit user turn to out of passion and a desire to help people rather than an attempt to make as much money as possible.

Working in finance can be rather lucrative. In fact, these professions are often lucrative enough that they raise a few eyebrows about exactly how much these professionals make.

The profession that this Reddit user went after specifically was hedge fund managers. Hedge fund managers often work by making investment decisions which might get complicated at times, but not quite so complicated that people like this Redditor think it deserves such a high salary.

Lawyers can make a lot. However, this depends heavily on what kind of law you study and the services you offer. For instance, public defenders don’t always make much.

As this Reddit user points out, that’s pretty unfortunate for such a crucial role when someone needs an attorney. On top of that, public defenders aren’t often known for their balanced caseloads. They often have to work hard to keep up with demand too!

This is another one that comes down to demand a bit. After all, famous actors often bring in huge paychecks because they star in huge movies.

However, it’s a bit hard to wrap your head around when the paychecks reach into the millions. This was coming from a Reddit user who was familiar with filmmaking as well, so they knew what went into it but the pay for the actors really blew their mind.

So far, we’ve seen a few medical personnel make it onto this list for being underpaid. This person suggested another profession for the list. As they note, certified nursing assistants — often shortened to CNAs — do a lot in their field of work.

However, they don’t always get the recognition they deserve. That includes respecting this profession for what it does as well as offering a better pay.

This one’s a bit more complicated. At the end of the day, does a socialite count as a job or more of a status? The term “socialites” is usually used for people who were born into money and become public figures.

As such, they don’t usually need a typical job. That doesn’t quite sit right with people like this Reddit user when you compare how hard some people have to work to get by.

When you bite into a leafy salad or even sit down to enjoy a burger, you have a farmer to thank for that meal. However, farmers don’t always earn a lot for the essential role they play in making sure food gets to store shelves.

Despite what you may have guessed, the profits on this can be marginal, and that doesn’t typically equal high pay for farm workers.

The picture that this Reddit user paints is an inviting one. Who could say no to high salaries and benefits like this? Not to mention, there’s a major advantage to being able to make so much so early in your career.

However, these benefits and high pay did leave this Redditor with a question: is the pay worth the work they do? It seems like a field you have to work to get into but they didn’t value their own output so highly.

There are some times in life you really want a professional to pull through and do their job to the best of their ability to avoid disastrous consequences. You have to put a lot of trust in your pilot when you jump on a plane.

Not to mention, these pilots go through a lot of training and work really hard at their jobs. Unfortunately, as this Reddit user points out, the pay doesn’t always reflect that.

This is another one that had people wondering if it counted as a profession. To be fair, it is a position you make a profit from. Considering it as a profession, it’s one some Reddit users found greatly overpaid.

It’s made a little worse by the fact that denial of or revoking their services from one of their tenants comes with a high cost to the person hoping to rent a place.

When you call for help in an emergency, one of the first people you talk to is a dispatcher. This is who you tell what’s wrong and they organize an appropriate response.

It’s a job that has more than just important in making sure emergencies receive these crucial responses but it’s an emotionally taxing job, too. That’s why it didn’t quite fit for this Reddit user that it’s a profession that’s frequently underpaid.

Earlier, when we looked at mortgage loan officers, the user referenced a strong feeling about realtors as well. Of course, buying a home is a big decision and you want someone knowledgeable there that can help you navigate it.

However, that still didn’t justify the amount of these costs to some Reddit users. The fees alone were a large part of the argument against real estate agents’ pays.

So far, we’ve seen that a lot of emergency responders don’t get paid as much as you might think when considering how important their jobs are. This includes the work that firefighters do.

While the profession as a whole is crucial, this Reddit user was specifically talking about wildland firefighting which is a major effort in helping with issues like wildfires.

Athletes, especially professional ones, often have a lot of debate around their pay. Some find the amount a bit much. On the other hand, some Redditors found it wasn’t the athletes they thought were overpaid.

Instead, they put their focus on the coaches of these professional teams. At the end of the day, they make a lot of money without the same bodily risk as the athletes on their team.

When you need something to eat or you run out of a household supply, you probably take a trip to your local grocery store. In fact, you might do so rather frequently.

If you don’t do a little grocery shopping, you won’t have much in the way of food, making this resource pretty important. Still, that doesn’t mean grocery store employees are making endless amounts of money. As a matter of fact, their often underpaid.

This person managed to sum up people’s feelings on who’s overpaid pretty well and it didn’t come down to a specific job title for them. Rather, they simply stated that anyone who makes so much that they could comfortably live off a year of work is too much.

This is especially highlighted by the fact that while one person may be able to make more than most of us will ever see, there are people who are struggling to meet their basic needs with multiple jobs.

The first underpaid job that came to this person’s mind was first responders. More specifically, the paramedics that often offer the first line of medical care to patients. They point out that the service they offer is more than essential — it’s pretty traumatic.

After all, paramedics are people beyond their profession. This means they have to handle the impact of all the things they experience as well as stay cool, calm, and collected while they help people.

We all love our furry friends but sometimes, even the most careful pet owners find themselves in need of a veterinarian. Vets and vet techs can really swoop in to save the day and save the lives of your beloved pets.

You’d think such a valuable service would come with a worthwhile paycheck. Yet, as this person pointed out, a vet tech isn’t always as appreciated both by other people or through a hefty paycheck. Rather, it’s a lot of work for not a lot of pay in return.