A Trade Certificate or License Can Come With About 16% Higher Pay, Census Research Finds

Pay is a worry for almost everyone who works, and a new piece of Census research offers one concrete pattern. CBS News MoneyWatch reporter Megan Cerullo, in a story updated October 16, reports on what the Census Bureau calls nondegree credentials: professional certifications, trade-school certificates and state licenses earned outside a college degree program. The headline number is that holders had median earnings about 16 percent higher than workers with the same level of education who lacked such a credential.

A caution up front. CBS says the figure comes from Census research drawing on the Survey of Income and Program Participation, but its story does not name the report, the period it covers or the sample size. This post relies on that single news report, so treat 16 percent as a headline rather than a forecast for any one person.

Who holds these credentials

According to the CBS account, about 40 percent of workers in healthcare support, food service, farming, fishing and forestry, construction and repair occupations hold a nondegree credential. Just under 40 percent of workers in professional occupations, a group that includes management, STEM, education and legal jobs, hold one as well. So this is not only a blue-collar story; certificates are common at both ends of the pay scale.

Census researchers tie the high rates in healthcare and the trades to licensing and safety requirements, such as IT certifications and the handling of hazardous chemicals or heavy machinery. The category is broad. It includes vocational certificates from technical colleges and trade schools, certifications from boards, associations or private firms, and state licenses required for some jobs, with cosmetology and barbering as examples.

One reading of that, and it is our interpretation rather than the report’s: in fields where a license is a legal requirement, holding one is less a bonus than a ticket to the higher-paying work. A raw gap between holders and non-holders can partly reflect who is permitted to do which job.

What the 16 percent does not show

CBS notes that the comparison is between credential holders and non-holders at the same education level. That is a useful way to hold education constant, but it does not prove the credential caused the higher pay. People who pursue certifications may already differ in motivation, experience or employer, and an employer that pays for a certificate may have been planning a raise anyway.

Credentials also cost money to keep. Many expire and need renewal, which means exam fees, continuing coursework or both. The story quotes Stacie Haller, chief career adviser at the commercial career site ResumeBuilder.com, who recommends AI-related certificates or badges. The piece gives no independent evidence on which credentials pay off most, so that advice should be read as one adviser’s view.

Questions worth asking before you pay

None of this is career or financial advice, but the research suggests a few practical questions before spending on a certificate:

• Is it legally required, or widely recognized by employers, in the work you want to do?
• Who issues it: a state board, a professional association or a private company, and does the issuer’s name carry weight in job postings near you?
• What is the full cost, including exam fees, study materials and renewal, and how often does it come around?
• Will your current employer reimburse it or credit it toward a raise or promotion?

A note for people who make things

Leatherwork has no federal license, and there is no certificate that makes a briefcase well built. In craft, proof is physical: clean stitching, even edges, a strap that holds. Our opinion is that a portfolio, repeat customers and a posted price list do for makers what a certificate does for a technician. The Census finding is a reminder that where a credential is the recognized language of skill, it can pay, and where it is not, your work has to speak for itself. For related context on household budgets, see our recent report on real weekly paychecks falling behind prices.

It also helps to keep the size of the effect in perspective. A 16 percent gap on a median salary is meaningful, but a credential that costs a few thousand dollars and a year of evenings has to be weighed against what the same time could earn elsewhere. The CBS report does not attempt that calculation, and neither can a single headline statistic. What it does offer is a direction: across many occupations, workers with a recognized credential tended to sit higher on the pay scale than peers with the same schooling.

For employers and shop owners, the finding cuts the other way. If certificates signal skill in your field, they are one input when hiring, but a practical test, a trial day or a look at past work can tell you things a certificate cannot. Small businesses that train their own people, as many leather workshops do, might consider documenting what apprentices have learned so that experience is visible to the next employer as well.

Sources

• CBS News MoneyWatch (Megan Cerullo): Looking for a pay bump? A nondegree credential can help, updated October 16, 2026. Reports Census Bureau research; single-source, report title and methodology not stated.