Creepiest Jobs and What They Pay
Sometimes making a good living requires working with blood, guts, dark spaces, or creepy-crawlers. Are you up for a little fright? The following jobs each include something a little unsettling or, in many cases, down right scary. Take a look and see if you're brave enough to make a creepy career move.
1. Funeral Director
Median Salary: $46,000
A calm demeanor, soothing words and attention to detail are essential for funeral directors. Besides ensuring that the logistics of the funeral go off without a hitch, funeral directors must also coordinate transportation of the body and comfort friends and family members of the deceased.
2. Pest Control Worker
Median Salary: $35,600
How do you feel about getting up close and personal with the pests of the world? Whether you're talking about spiders, rodents or roaches, pest control workers must take on the creepy-crawly creatures that the rest of us try to avoid.
3. Phlebotomist
Median Salary: $27,400
Warning: Strong stomach required. These brave folks spend all day drawing blood for medical tests, blood collection and blood donation. Their vampire-like role is vital for your well-being, unlike Dracula's deadly bite.
4. Archaeologist
Median Salary: $47,200
Did you feel a little chill as Indiana Jones illuminated yet another tomb loaded with skulls and bones? Archaeologists regularly uncover human remains and ancient artifacts to discover more about our ancestors.
5. Theatrical Makeup Artist
Median Salary: $44,300
A gashed lip, a missing eye, five freshly burned fingers – sometimes makeup artists are asked to do everything they can to make our skin crawl. While the effect they create is not real, the fear it causes certainly is.
6. Night Security Guard
Median Salary: $28,700
These uniformed guards may look unflappable as they greet you and watch you come and go, but they actually have to chase down those things that go bump in the night! A brave heart and good decision-making are essential for this post.
7. Sewer Pipe Cleaner
Median Salary: $35,900
Imagine being in a cramped, wet and dark place. Now imagine that it smells like rotten diapers. Eeeeeew. Sewer workers regularly face this creepy, uncomfortable environment just so we can all flush. Thank you, sewer pipe cleaners!
8. Slaughterer or Meat Packer
Median Salary: $25,300
Raw flesh, muscle and bones anyone? These folks work amidst the bloody remains of animals all day so we can enjoy our cheeseburgers, turkey dinners and bologna sandwiches.
9. Coal Mine Worker
Median Salary: $59,300
The steep drop into the dark underground is only the beginning of the dangers that coal miners face. The echoing mine walls threaten long hours of entrapment with little or no chance for escape.
10. Embalmer
Median Salary: $45,000
Preserving dead bodies and preparing them for burial may seem like the creepiest job of them all, but if we learned anything from HBO's Six Feet Under, it's that embalmers take quite a bit of pride in their work. This combination of art and science ensures that a person's last impression on grieving family and friends is a good one.
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Search by Company | Search by Industry*PayScale.com's median salary numbers are for US workers and assume 5-8 years of previous work experience in that field.
