Most advice about picking a trade ranks the options by median wage. Electricians come out on top, followed closely by plumbers, then HVAC. That ranking is accurate — if your goal is to earn the highest salary working for someone else. But it inverts completely when your goal is to eventually run your own operation.
BLS 2024 occupational projections include self-employment rates by occupation — the share of workers in each trade who work for themselves. The numbers make a very different case than the standard wage table. Painters are self-employed at a rate of 33.8%. Carpenters: 26.8%. Roofers: 18.3%. Electricians: 7.8%. Plumbers: 7.8%. HVAC technicians: 4.8%.
The trades that lead on wages are the same trades where workers are least likely to end up running their own business. That gap is not coincidental — it's structural.
Why the High-Wage Trades Have the Lowest Self-Employment Rates
Electricians and plumbers earn more partly because they're harder to work for yourself in. Three structural barriers keep the owner-operator rate low in licensed mechanical trades.
Licensing requirements for business owners are layered. In most states, running an electrical contracting business requires a master electrician license — a credential that typically takes 7–10 years of combined experience and additional exam preparation beyond journeyman status. A journeyman electrician can do the work; only a master can pull permits as the responsible party. The same structure applies to plumbing in most jurisdictions. A painter or carpenter, by contrast, can often start a residential contracting business as a journeyman with a general contractor's license, depending on the state. The regulatory hurdle to business ownership is meaningfully lower.
Capital requirements differ. Starting a residential painting business requires brushes, rollers, ladders, drop cloths, and a van. Starting an HVAC contracting business requires EPA 608 certification, specialized refrigerant recovery equipment, recovery tanks, a vacuum pump, manifold gauges, recovery machines, and the working capital to carry commercial jobs through billing cycles. The typical barrier to entry for painting is a few thousand dollars and a license; for HVAC it's $15,000–$40,000 in tooling and equipment before you bill your first job.
Project structure drives client fragmentation. Residential painting and carpentry work is served by a large number of small contractors because the projects are small and customers are fragmented — thousands of homeowners each needing a separate contractor. Commercial and industrial electrical work tends to run through fewer, larger contractors. The market structure of painting and carpentry is inherently friendlier to independent operators.
Self-Employment Rates Across the Major Trades
| Trade | Self-Employment Rate | Median Annual Wage | 10-yr Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painter / Construction Painter | 33.8% | $48,660 | +3.8% |
| Carpenter | 26.8% | $59,310 | +4.5% |
| Roofer | 18.3% | $50,970 | +5.9% |
| Welder | 6.3% | $51,000 | +2.2% |
| Electrician | 7.8% | $62,350 | +9.5% |
| Plumber / Pipefitter | 7.8% | $62,970 | +4.5% |
| HVAC Technician | 4.8% | $59,810 | +8.1% |
Source: BLS Occupational Projections 2024–2034; BLS OEWS 2024. Self-employment rates reflect the share of primary workers classified as self-employed in each occupation.
What You Actually Give Up in Each Direction
The tradeoff is real in both directions. Painters earn a median $48,660 as employees — roughly $13,000 less than electricians. That gap is the wage premium that compensates electricians for the licensing barrier, the additional training years, and the higher barrier to market as an independent. When a painter earns $80,000 running their own crew of three, the gap closes or inverts — but that outcome requires the business skills to land and manage clients, not just the craft skills to do the work.
Carpenters present a slightly different picture. At a 26.8% self-employment rate and a $59,310 median wage, carpentry sits closer to the licensed mechanical trades on wages while still having a much higher owner-operator rate. That's partly because carpentry splits between residential and commercial: commercial framing work happens inside large general contractor structures, while residential finish carpentry and remodeling is served by small independent operators. The self-employed carpenters are overwhelmingly on the residential and remodeling side of that divide.
The high-wage trades — electrician, plumber, HVAC — don't block the owner-operator path; they just delay it. A master electrician with 8–10 years of experience who starts an electrical contracting business is starting from a much stronger position than a journeyman painter who starts a painting company at year 2. The ceiling is higher, the jobs are larger, and the licensing moat keeps competition lower. The question is whether you're willing to run on the employment track for the years it takes to earn the master credentials — or whether you'd rather start the business-ownership path earlier, with a lower starting ceiling.
How to Think About This Decision
The right frame depends on what you're optimizing for over a 20-year career, not just what pays best in year three.
If the goal is to spend your whole career as an employee, the wage table is the right guide. Electrician and plumber are the obvious anchors: strong wage growth projections (electricians at +9.5% over the next decade), good union apprenticeship infrastructure, and the highest wage ceilings in construction trades.
If the goal is to run a business within the first 5–7 years of entering a trade, the self-employment rate is the more useful signal. Carpentry and painting have proven market structures for small independent operators. Residential remodeling, finish carpentry, commercial painting — these are industries where a skilled operator with two or three employees can generate $200K–$400K in revenue. The median employed wage is lower, but the business ceiling is closer and the entry capital requirements are manageable.
If the goal is to run a business eventually — within 10–15 years — the licensed mechanical trades regain the advantage. A master plumber or master electrician who starts a contracting business is starting with a credential that legally differentiates them from competitors, lets them pull permits independently, and opens commercial and industrial bids that residential-only contractors can't touch. The long track is longer, but the destination is more defensible.
The variable that almost nobody discusses is the income valley during the apprenticeship years. If you enter carpentry at a lower starting wage and start earning owner-operator income at year 5, versus entering electrician at a similar starting wage and reaching journeyman wages at year 4 before spending another 4–6 years working toward master credentials, the 10-year cash flows are closer than the median wage tables suggest. Building that model with your specific regional wages is worth the hour it takes before you pick a program.
The Practical Answer
The trades with the highest self-employment rates get that way for a reason: lower regulatory barriers to starting a business, more fragmented residential markets, and lower capital requirements. That's not a backdoor — it's a different front door. Painters, carpenters, and roofers who build skills, develop client relationships, and layer in business operations in years 3–5 are executing the exact path the data says works. The 33.8% self-employment rate for painters isn't an accident; it reflects that the business formation dynamics for that trade actually support independent operators.
If you're drawn to a licensed mechanical trade, the owner-operator path is real — it's just a longer runway. The carpentry trade page and plumbing trade page on this site show the regional wage variation that should factor into your state-level math. And if you're still deciding between trade school and apprenticeship as the entry path, our analysis of which path fits which trade gives the structural breakdown for each of the major options.
Pick the trade that fits your hands and your timeline — and then build the business model that matches what you picked.