15 Jobs You Thought Paid Well, But Don’t

15. Head Chef – Average Salary: $40,000Prior to chefs being on television every night this wasn’t an envied job. Head chef’s work long hours, work to exhaustion and get low pay with few benefits.

14. Fashion Designer – Average Salary: $70,000Many dream of becoming the next Michael Kors or Marc Jacobs, but you have better odds making it as a professional athlete. The Fashion Designer job market is really saturated and each opening brings hundreds or even thousands of applicants.

13. Casino Dealer – Average Salary: $15,000 (without tips)

12. Dietitian/Nutritionist – Average Salary: $50,000People often go to a Nutritionist when they need to make changes, often because their life depends on it. A Nutritionist will create a healthy plan that includes food, exercise and other goals to improve overall quality of life.

11. Legislator – Average Salary: $50,000Crooked legislatures are part of our pastime. Often people openly criticize because these individuals already make so much money.

10. Marine Biologist – Average Salary: $55,000Marine Biologists are experts in their field. This profession studies animals, their characteristics and habits, looking to improve as well as learn how improve marine life.

9. Professors – Average Salary: $65,000Everyone knows grade school and high school teachers don’t make jack when it comes to earnings, but pay for professors is also very low. Professors, meaning anyone teaching beyond high school, typically have gone to school for many years.

8. Accountants – Average Salary: $63,000Most would think the employees responsible for the numbers and reporting the health of the company would be paid well, but that is not the case for Accountants.

7. Psychologists – Average Salary: $65,000 A Psychologist meets with their clients and then uses their knowledge and research to diagnose their mental condition and make recommendations based on their findings.

6. Architect – Average Salary: $65,000There is a reason “Architect” was George Costanza’s go-to profession on Seinfeld. There is a prestige that goes along with someone that designs buildings as well as other structures.

5. Chemist – Average Salary: $70,000A Chemist studies substances, their properties and reactions and use this information for developing new products or finding efficiencies/inefficiencies in the process.

4. Biomedical Engineer – Average Salary: $75,000Chances are if this is your job you will have to explain exactly what you do and even then it may not be clear. Biomedical Engineers typically work with medicine and biology, finding solutions for diseases, long-term effects and new reactions.

3. Optometrist – Average Salary: $100,000Eye guys really get the shaft in the world of doctors. Optometrists perform eye exams and treat problems in the area of the eyes.

2. Private Detectives – Average Salary: $50,000If your goal in life is to live the life of a crime novel detective then Private Investigator (Private Detective) may be for you.

1. Firefighters – Average Salary: $50,000Firefighters put their lives in danger and on the line each time they punch in for work. Their job is to put out fires, but really it’s to save lives, risking their health and lives in the process.