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Asterisk Magazine’s Jesse Smith argues that becoming an electrician or entering another trade is not a guaranteed route to high pay or a risk-free alternative to college. His report points to college graduates’ higher average earnings, low average net tuition at public in-state colleges and physical dangers in some trades, while noting that outcomes vary by field and job.
Asterisk Magazine has published Jesse Smith’s report arguing that electrician and other trade careers are less certain paths to high earnings than popular pitches suggest. Drawing on research and his own experience as a construction apprentice, Smith says college graduates still earn more on average and that some trade jobs carry substantial risks of injury or death.
Smith takes aim at a familiar argument for skipping college: that education costs are prohibitive, trade wages are rapidly rising, and artificial intelligence will eliminate many office jobs while leaving hands-on work untouched. The report says that case overstates the financial advantages of trades. Research on college’s effect on earnings, Smith writes, finds a substantial wage benefit from graduating, although returns vary by field and completing a four-year degree matters.
The report also challenges the idea that trade wages are broadly surging. Smith describes a brief period around the COVID-19 pandemic when wage gains went to a narrower group of subtrades, not evidence of a lasting increase across the trades. He notes that some college majors lead to lower earnings, but says that does not erase the broader earnings advantage associated with completing a degree.
On tuition, Smith distinguishes the advertised price from what students pay after discounts and aid. Citing figures for 2024, he says average net tuition and fees at public, in-state colleges were below $2,500 a year, and had declined since 2016. That figure is limited to average net tuition and fees at public in-state institutions; it does not represent every student’s total costs, including housing, food and other expenses.
Choosing Work With Eyes Open
The report matters to people weighing training, college and early-career work because broad claims about either route can obscure the differences among occupations and individual circumstances. Electricians, lineworkers and other tradespeople do not all have the same pay, hazards, training requirements or career prospects. Nor do college graduates all receive the same financial return.
Smith’s account also puts physical safety into a decision often framed mainly around wages and AI. He describes breaking both heels in a construction accident when he was 20, and says workplace injuries are a familiar experience among people in the trades. His personal history illustrates the potential consequences; it is not a measure of how often electricians as a group are injured.
For prospective workers, the practical takeaway is to examine the specific occupation, local apprenticeship arrangements, pay information and safety conditions rather than assume a trade guarantees a particular income or is immune to technological change. The report does not establish that college is the right choice for every person; it disputes the idea that trade work is an automatic financial upgrade.
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The Pitch Behind Trade Careers
The report responds to a popular narrative that rising college costs make a degree poor value, while trade workers can earn six figures doing work AI cannot replace. Smith notes that public figures and organizations promote trade careers, sometimes using phrases such as “AI-proof six-figure jobs.” He contrasts such messaging with the advice he remembers receiving from older construction workers, who urged apprentices to return to school.
Smith writes from the perspective of a former apprentice and older tradesman, including more than three decades of distance from the start of his apprenticeship. His account combines personal experience with claims about earnings, tuition and workplace hazards. The source excerpt does not provide full tables, links to the underlying studies or detailed comparisons among electrician specialties, so the article’s numerical and research claims should be read in the scope he describes.
“The story is more complicated than you might think.”
— Jesse Smith, Asterisk Magazine
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Pay and Safety Vary by Job
The supplied report excerpt does not give a typical salary for electricians, a detailed wage range by location or experience, or a direct comparison with the earnings of people entering trades without college. It also does not quantify injury or fatality rates for electricians specifically. Smith describes hazards in several occupations, including line work, but readers should not treat those examples as a single risk estimate for all electrical work.
The excerpt ends during a discussion of risk attitudes and does not include the report’s full conclusion. It provides no new government policy, apprenticeship rule or labor-market announcement. Claims that AI will displace most knowledge work or leave trade work untouched remain predictions in the debate described by Smith, not established outcomes in the material provided.
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Compare Local Training Options
The report offers no announced next step or follow-up study. Anyone considering electrical work can use the questions it raises to investigate local apprenticeship programs, entry requirements, training length, wages at different experience levels and the safety practices employers follow. Information should be checked against current local sources because pay, licensing rules and work conditions can differ by jurisdiction and specialty.
For electrical work, training and work on electrical systems should follow applicable safety rules and be handled by qualified, licensed professionals where required. Smith’s broader message is not that readers should reject trades or college, but that they should compare the actual costs, likely earnings and physical demands of the specific paths available to them.
personal protective equipment for trades
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Key Questions
Does the report say electricians do not earn good salaries?
No. Smith challenges the claim that trade work broadly guarantees high or six-figure pay. The supplied excerpt does not provide a specific electrician salary, and earnings can vary by location, experience and specialty.
What does Smith say about college costs?
He says the average net tuition and fees at public, in-state colleges were below $2,500 per year in 2024 and had declined since 2016. The figure does not include every student’s full cost of attendance or describe all types of colleges.
Does the report show that electricians face a particular injury rate?
No electrician-specific rate appears in the supplied excerpt. Smith describes a serious construction injury he suffered and discusses hazards in several trades, but does not give a statistical injury rate for electricians.
Does Smith conclude everyone should go to college?
No. He argues that college completion is associated with higher earnings on average and disputes the assumption that trades are automatically a better financial choice. His report also acknowledges that returns vary by college major and career.
Source: hn
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