Nothing quite like being able to afford an apartment, a car, nice clothes and time to party right out of high school. Median wages for carpenters, sheet metal workers and plumbers run $25 to $30 per hour. Tradespeople these days are never unemployed very long and when they are there is enough money to start a side hustle or learn about French poststructuralists like Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida with their college-going friends.