One of my buddies is working at a facility where they help distribute massive metal pipes, you know, the kind of pipes that are used for oil & gas pipeline projects. He is making around $900 per week. With a $500 per month mortgage payment on a small home in a rural town he's doing OK for himself. It's not impossible to make it without a college degree today, the fact is the younger generations are always being told to go to college and take out massive student loans doing so, so there is a huge overabundance of educated people with degrees all strapped to the chains of federal loaned debt and not enough specialized jobs. Meanwhile, labor-intensive companies need more hard working grunts all the time. Educated yuppies don't like getting their hands dirty so people like my friend are glad to take those trade jobs.