Data API

All data on this site is available as JSON, free, with CORS enabled (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *). Please attribute “HighPayingTrades.com” and the original sources (BLS, O*NET, DOL, NCES IPEDS, College Scorecard). Data refreshed 2026-11-03.

Endpoints

Endpoint	Returns
GET /api/trades.json	All listed trades with SOC/O*NET codes, national wage distribution, pay fields mean_annual (average pay, all experience levels; not starting pay), median_annual, pct10_annual (entry-level / bottom 10%) and pct90_annual, pay group (mean_65k) and program counts, plus source metadata and field_descriptions.
GET /api/trades/[trade].json	One trade: national, state and metro wages, O*NET summary, tuition summary and state page URLs.
GET /api/programs?trade=&state=&city=	Listed programs filtered by trade slug, two-letter state and/or city name. Up to 500 rows per call; use offset to page.

Trade slugs

elevator-mechanic, lineworker, process-operator, aircraft-mechanic, electrical-engineering-technician, industrial-automation-technician, industrial-electronics-technician, pipefitter, crane-operator, electrician, operating-engineer

Example

curl https://highpayingtrades.com/api/trades/elevator-mechanic.json

{
 "trade": "elevator-mechanic",
 "soc": "47-4021",
 "national": {
  "mean_annual": 109820,
  "median_annual": 109910,
  "pct10_annual": 59270,
  "pct90_annual": 158890,
  "tot_emp": 23790
 }
}

Field notes

• Wages are annual U.S. dollars from the BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates, released 2026-05-15. top_coded means BLS reports the value as at or above its top code.
• tuition is null unless College Scorecard publishes a figure; tuition.label says what the figure is.
• source is ipeds or dol_oa. completions_2023_24 is the IPEDS count of first-major awards (graduates) in that program for July 2023 to June 2024; null for apprenticeship sponsors.

CSV downloads

• /data/trades.csv: one row per listed trade with SOC, O*NET, average (mean), median, entry-level / bottom 10%, top 10% and program counts.
• /data/programs.csv: every listed program with provider, location, CIP, graduates 2023-24, tuition and source.