From nurses, healthcare workers, emergency response officers, and countless service-based workers, night shift opportunities are available to job hunters due to the evolving consumer demand worldwide.
This article will take you through 50 different jobs from all sorts of industries to hopefully help you find the best employment for your lifestyle. The information provided below is shown according to the latest data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and other reliable resources available online.
High Paying Night Shift Jobs
Like most other jobs, there are night shift opportunities that pay more than others. These jobs usually require and expect more from their applicants, requiring technical training and degrees from higher education. These are some of the jobs that pay more than most other employment opportunities on the night shift.
- Emergency Room Doctors ($310,640 / year | $149.35 / hour)
- Airline and Commercial Pilots ($134,630 / year | $27.84 / hour)
- Air Traffic Controllers ($127,920 / year | $61.50 / hour)
- Physician Assistants ($114,318 / year | $67.06 / hour)
- Night Shift Scrum Masters ($85,328 / year)
- Network and Computer Systems Administrators ($80,600 / year | $38.75 / hour)
- Web Developers ($78,300 / year | $37.65 / hour)
- Night Shift Registered Nurses ($77,600 / year | $37.31 / hour)
- Medical Sonographers ($75,380 / year | $36.24 / hour)
- Police Officers ($70,750 / year | $34.02 / hour)
Emergency Room Doctors
Average Salary: $310,640 / year | $149.35 / hour
The path toward becoming a doctor is not easy. In fact, not many people can survive its rigors. This is why there’s such a strong demand for emergency room doctors. The night shift is the busiest time for these healthcare professionals. The role expects emergency doctors to provide quick and accurate diagnoses and medical decisions to prevent death, further injury, and disability.
According to the BLS, emergency room doctors must provide immediate recognition, evaluation, care, stabilization, and disposition of patients. They may also lead and direct emergency staff under the emergency department.
Airline and Commercial Pilots
Average Salary: $134,630 / year | $27.84 / hour
There are flights during the night as well, so airline and commercial pilots take flight during irregular hours as well. Pilots fly a variety of airborne vehicles ranging from planes to helicopters and other aircraft. Pilots work on a variety of work schedules commonly filled with overnight layovers. These are typical in the airline industry where airline pilots work.
Air Traffic Controllers
Average Salary: $127,920 / year | $61.50 / hour
The airport never sleeps, and air traffic controllers play an important role in airport operations. Air traffic controllers work tirelessly – even during evenings and weekends – to ensure that planes fly seamlessly and safely. They watch and stay alert for movement on the ground and in the airspace surrounding airports. These professionals communicate and coordinate with pilots and flight staff about the best practices and approaches to and from airports.
Physician Assistants
Average Salary: $114,318 / year | $67.06 / hour
Providing primary care to patients is a physician assistant’s main duty. Physical assistants evaluate the severity of a patient’s injuries, diagnose illnesses, recommend tests, and oversee treatment. To become a physician assistant, a medical professional must have a specialty. These specialties range may range from various fields of study such as neurology and orthopedics.
Night Shift Scrum Masters
Average Salary: $85,328 / year
The job description can be a bit flexible when companies look for their Night Shift Scrum Master. Generally, a scrum master’s primary responsibility and scope of work is to ensure that they facilitate and optimize an efficient working environment.
Scrum masters take charge of facilitating team decisions, maximizing teamwork, and guiding employees according to established rules and goals. These professionals navigate possible obstacles that get in the way of productivity and effectiveness.
Network and Computer Systems Administrators
Average Salary: $80,600 / year | $38.75 / hour
Network and computer systems administrators oversee and maintain the daily operations of computer networks around the world. As most computer networks are in use during daily operations, network and computer systems administrators often work after hours to minimize the disruptions their work can cause to employees working. These tech-savvy professionals work with the infrastructure, software, and hardware companies and industries need to operate every day.
Web Developers
Average Salary: $78,300 / year | $37.65 / hour
Web developers play an important role in the digital age. These tech virtuosos create, develop, test, and maintain websites for various industries. They often help with the design and development of functionality according to what businesses and organizations need from their websites.
Web developers may work as part of companies, but many work as self-employed professionals. Some even work on offshore accounts, allowing them some flexibility when it comes to time management.
Night Shift Registered Nurses
Average Salary: $77,600 / year | $37.31 / hour
Registered nurses work together with other medical staff to provide care for patients. They are also in charge of educating patients and the public about their diagnoses and relevant health conditions.
Registered nurses can work in various offices ranging from hospitals, physicians’ offices, home healthcare services, and nursing care facilities. Some nurses even work in outpatient clinics and schools.
Medical Sonographers
Average Salary: $75,380 / year | $36.24 / hour
Medical sonographers are professionals who specialize in creating images of the body’s organs and tissues through special imaging equipment. Their duty is to operate complex technology and interpret doctors’ orders to determine the severity and nature of illnesses, injuries, and abnormalities.
Medical sonographers go through extensive amounts of training and education to hone their expertise and techniques in imaging. Employers and hospitals even prefer candidates who are American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography certified.
Police Officers
Average Salary: $70,750 / year | $34.02 / hour
To make sure communities are safe 24/7, police officers work day and night. Police officers have evening and overnight shifts. Even after the sun sets, the police patrol neighborhoods and highways, serving and protecting the sleeping citizens of their communities.
Police officers are expected to understand and apply the law in incidents that need their attention with sensitivity and maintain peace and order. They play a crucial role in law enforcement and everyday legal processes.
Night Shift Opportunities for Job Hunters
Night-shift jobs aren’t just limited to well-trained and post-graduate achievers. For those looking for great opportunities in the night shift, there certainly are a wide variety of jobs you can try. From the medical industry to logistics and even IT-related employment opportunities, there are plenty of jobs you can try if you’re looking for a change of pace.
Fast Food Attendants
Average Salary: $25,100 / year | $12.49 / hour
Fast food attendants are in charge of preparing and cooking food for customers. Depending on a company’s operational design, fast food attendants may take orders from customers and bring the finished products to their tables. These professionals may also man the cash registers and execute tasks in the kitchen and dining areas. In some cases, fast food attendants even take care of drive-thru operations and logistics.
Stockers
Average Salary: $33,020 / year | $15.87 / hour
Stocking shelves can be difficult with shoppers around. This is why most large retail stores do a lot of their shelf stocking during the night shift. By operating at night, stockers have an easier time at work, making them more efficient. There are even fewer shoppers around when they finally need to organize.
Many overnight stockers are one of the most common night shift jobs out there and require only on-the-job training. The tasks in this line of work are straightforward and easy to learn, which is a good deal in itself.
Flight Attendants
Average Salary: $62,280 / year
A flight attendant’s primary duty is to ensure the passengers’ and cabin’s comfort and safety. They provide services to airline passengers to ensure flights and trips are as smooth as possible. Explaining safety information to everyone on the flight is also part of their responsibilities. Flight attendants are reliable professionals in cases of emergency situations.
Baristas
Average Salary: $33,187 / year
As more and more food and service establishments reopen after the pandemic, opportunities in the industry become increasingly available as well. Baristas, for example, work during the night as well and, according to Indeed, can earn up to more than $14 an hour. The popular employment company also states that baristas may earn more than $20 worth of tips per day. On a normal day, baristas may work in coffee shops and restaurants, making and serving coffee, preparing orders, manning the cash register, and even cleaning the store.
Truck Drivers
Average Salary: $48,310 / year | $23.23 / hour
Truck drivers are responsible for the important task of transporting goods from one point to another. As this job deals with a lot of traveling, the role entails a massive change in lifestyle. Working as a truck driver will mean being away for days and even weeks at a time as you travel vast distances.
Bartenders
Average Salary: $26,350 / year | $12.67 / hour
Bartenders mix and create drinks for customers and serve them either directly or through waiting staff. In addition to what companies and establishment pay their bartenders, they also receive tips from customers for their services.
These professionals work in restaurants, hotels, and various food service and drinking establishments. In peak hours, employers expect bartenders to effectively serve customers efficiently and precisely under pressure. This role often entails working late evenings, weekends, and even holidays as customers relax and drink more during these times.
Bakers
Average Salary: $29,750 / year | $14.31 / hour
Before the fresh bread comes out for customers to consume in the morning, bakers work hard in the wee hours of the morning to produce high-quality products. Bakers mix ingredients together while following recipes to make baked goods, like bread and pastries.
Hotel Receptionists
Average Salary: $29,950 / year | $14.40 / hour
Receptionists play a vital role in the hospitality and service industry. They serve at the front lines of the service industry, guiding guests, answering phones, addressing inquiries, and providing information about the organization and the establishment to the public. As more and more of the hospitality and tourism industry opens up in the aftermath of the pandemic, the demand for hotel receptionists has had a resurgence in recent months.
Casino Dealers
Average Salary: $28,960 / year | $ 13.92 / hour
Casinos and other gambling establishments have different activity levels during days and nights. In fact, these enterprises have more activity during the night. Job hunters, then, have more opportunities to find night shift positions in casinos and gambling establishments as dealers.
Casino dealers stand and sit behind a table as they facilitate games of chance for guests. They provide the appropriate number of cards, blocks, and other game instruments for players and operate the equipment.
Valet Attendants
Average Salary: $39,912 / year | $14.60 / hour
Valet attendants are professionals in the hospitality industry responsible for greeting guests as they arrive. They receive car keys from guests and take them to parking lots, help maintain an organized flow of traffic, and retrieve the vehicles upon request.
Hand Laborers and Material Movers
Average Salary: $30,320 / year | $14.58 / hour
Hand laborers and material movers work throughout the day and night to ensure goods reach consumers. They often deal with freight, stock, and other materials. As people need a constant supply of goods everywhere, many hand laborers and material movers – especially those in warehousing – work round the clock, even in overnight shifts.
Security Guard
Average Salary: $35,830 / year | $17.23 / hour
Establishments and companies everywhere need security – especially during the night. This is why security guards stay alert as they work night shifts for companies, communities, and buildings everywhere. They provide security by monitoring, patrolling, and guarding areas to prevent theft and violence and enforce the rules and regulations of a community or organization.
Firefighters
Average Salary: $55,290 / year | $26.58 / hour
Despite what they’re called, a firefighter’s duty isn’t limited to just fire-related emergencies. In fact, firefighters also deal with emergency medical emergencies, all matters of disaster and calamity response, search and rescue, and hazardous material incidents.
Primarily, however, fire departments train firefighters to quickly and decisively control and extinguish fires. Their duty is to protect and save the environment, properties, and lives from possible risks and dangerous situations.
Passenger Vehicle Drivers
Average Salary: $37,540 / year | $18.05 / hour
Some cities never sleep. This is why passenger vehicle drivers work not only days but also nights to take commuters to wherever they may need to be. Passenger vehicle drivers operate public utility vehicles like cars, buses, and other modes of transportation to move commuters from one place to the next.
Passenger vehicle drivers work full time, but there certainly are part-time opportunities for those who need them. With the advent of the application revolution, companies like Grab, Uber, and Lyft have taken this job into the digital space to make things easier and more convenient for people the world over.
911 Dispatcher
Average Salary: $46,650 / year | $22.43 / hour
911 dispatchers play an important role in responding to emergencies and incidents that happen in communities around the world. Emergencies can happen anytime – day or night. This is why night shift opportunities as a 911 dispatcher are common.
A 911 dispatcher’s primary duty is to schedule and dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles to deliver materials, freight, or passengers. According to BLS, 911 dispatchers may also provide help for normal installation, service, or emergency repairs rendered outside the place of business. These professionals work with radios, telephones, and/or computers to communicate assignments and gather information on emergency situations.
Mail Sorter
Average Salary: $51,010 / year | $24.52 / hour
Mail Sorters work round the clock to prepare and bring people’s incoming and outgoing mail. These professionals work hard for the United States Postal Service. They help examine, sort, and route mail.
Mail sorters also occasionally adjust and repair mail machinery that has processing, sorting, and canceling functions. Mail sorters also help keep records of shipments, pouches, and sacks and perform a variety of duties related to handling mail through the postal service.
Paramedics / EMTs
Average Salary: $36,930 / year | $17.76 / hour
The medical industry is one of the busiest fields at night. Paramedics and EMTs play a pivotal role in many of its nightly operations. These medical professionals staff the medical corps tirelessly, helping response teams that handle emergencies by assessing the status of ill and injured patients.
In cases of emergencies, paramedics and EMTs provide emergency care and communicate serious situations with doctors for consultation. They are also in charge of transporting patients quickly and safely to medical institutions when needed.
Janitors and Building Cleaners
Average Salary: $29,760 / year | $14.31 / hour
Every place on earth needs proper maintenance, and this is the role that janitors and building cleaners perform. Janitors keep buildings clean and ensure that a building’s environment is sanitary, orderly, and in good condition.
Janitors typically work inside buildings, but some also take on the responsibility of working outdoors — cleaning walkways and shoveling snow. Many of these professionals work night shifts as things are easier to clean with fewer guests or visitors present in places they maintain.
Customer Service Representative
Average Salary: $36,920 / year | $17.75 / hour
Customer service representatives work 24/7 for customers in need. In fact, the BLS reported that almost every industry has a customer service department employed to solve customer concerns. Many of these industries have customer service departments that work night shifts and graveyard shifts to answer queries and accommodate clients even after regular office hours.
The duties of customer service representatives can range from processing orders to providing information and troubleshooting problems that require technical assistance. Customer service representatives help support clients with any troubles they may have.
Nursing Assistants and Orderlies
Average Salary: $30,290 / year | $14.56 / hour
Nursing assistants and orderlies support their colleagues, such as nurses and doctors in the healthcare industry. These professionals provide basic care for patients and help them move as they navigate their activities every day.
As some patients need to move around at night, nursing assistants and orderlies work night shifts as well. Nurses and doctors need their help lifting and assisting patients as they navigate their injuries or conditions.
Chefs
Average Salary: $50,160 | $24.11 / hour
People need food at night too, so being a chef can mean working irregular hours outside the 9-5. Chefs in hotels, cruise ships, and many other establishments may need to cater to hungry patrons during irregular hours. Their primary role is to operate kitchen equipment and follow recipes to create culinary creations that people will patronize. Chefs also take charge of keeping kitchens clean, organized, and safe for the staff and other employees.
Broadcast Announcers
Average Salary: $56,110 / year | $ 26.97 / hour
The media plays a vital role in relaying information to people. This is why Broadcast announcers and media people work both during the day, and the night, as they need to be constantly ready in case urgent news comes along.
Radios and television programs air even at night, allowing job hunters to pursue a career in the night shift as broadcast announcers.
Writers
Average Salary: $69,510 / year | $33.42 / hour
Writers help publications, online platforms, and various other companies develop content for their businesses or organization. While they may communicate with editors or managers during regular working hours, the variety of content they work with often means they can work with deadlines by working evenings and even overnight.
Companies often require college degrees when hiring writers, but there are times when they do hire candidates with strong and relevant writing skills, even without formal academic credentials.
Funeral Service Workers
Average Salary: $58,900 / year | $28.32 / hour
The ceremonies behind honoring those who pass away can be more complex than most people know. Right at the forefront of such ceremonies are funeral service workers. Professionals who typically have associate degrees in funeral service or mortuary science and passers of state licensing exams.
Funeral service, with highly supervised training, organize and manage the intricacies of wakes and other ceremonies that honor the deceased. They work with families to provide an appropriate send-off for their loved ones who have passed.
Construction Workers
Average Salary: $37,520 / year | $18.04 / hour
A lot of construction projects have tight deadlines. This is why construction workers willing to work night shifts are in demand. With much less activity, construction work is often easier at night. There are much fewer people, better temperatures, and less activity overall, giving construction workers a chance to work with more space and efficiency. The night shift is just more convenient for many construction projects, opening doors for job hunters in need of a job outside the 9-5.
Rehabilitation Counselors
Average Salary: $38,560 / year | $18.54 / hour
Rehabilitation counselors aid people with special needs or troubled persons making an effort to get better. They often deal with people with disabilities, substance abusers, and people who are in need of help and monitoring as they go through rehabilitation.
Night-shift opportunities are usually open for rehabilitation counselors because some people need help and support while they stay in overnight facilities like group homes. Rehabilitation counselors help people live independently and work with persons in need in community rehab centers, senior citizen centers, and youth guidance organizations.
Correctional Officer
Average Salary: $47,920 / year | $23.04 / hour
Before ending up behind bars, suspects of a crime who have been either sentenced to serve time in jail or those waiting for a trial date are overseen by correctional officers who work around the clock.
The life of a correctional officer is not easy. The job can be stressful and dangerous, as dealing with possibly unpredictable people daily can be physically, mentally, and emotionally rough. Before you consider a career in this field, do note that correctional officers have one of the highest injury rates of all occupations. They deal with inmates regularly and work day in and day out, including on weekends and holidays.
Machinists
Average Salary: $47,940 / year | $23.05 / hour
Machinists or machine operators work with equipment to craft precision metal parts, instruments, and other tools. Machinists work with die makers in machine shops and factories, often covering shifts in the regular business hours, the night shift, and even holidays to get essential projects done.
Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians
Average Salary: $57,800 / year | $27.79 / hour
Working alongside the rest of the healthcare workforce day in and day out are the clinical laboratory technologists and technicians who collect samples from patients to perform tests and analyze the nature and severity of their conditions. These medical professionals analyze body fluids, tissue, and other substances to help doctors perform diagnoses.
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians are often needed during the day and during the night, working in hospitals, doctor’s offices, and medical and diagnostic laboratories. The position often needs a bachelor’s degree and licensure exams in some states.
Psychiatric Technicians and Aides
Average Salary: $36,230 / year | $17.42 / hour
Facilities for those with psychiatric needs stay alert even during the night. This is why psychiatric aides work night shifts to help people with mental conditions and disabilities with their needs. Psychiatric technicians and aides assist people in psychiatric hospitals, residential mental health facilities, psychiatric wards, and other related healthcare settings.
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
Average Salary: $36,850 / year | $17.72 / hour
In case you forget, pets have emergencies, too. Like people, pets can get into accidents or suddenly get sick or injured as well. Some incidents are so severe that pets need overnight care. Veterinarian technologists and technicians are often available at night, too, through night shifts, to respond when needed and treat animals who require monitoring or observation.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Average Salary: $29,430 / year | $14.15 / hour
When people with disabilities or chronic illnesses need help, home health and personal care aides dutifully assist them as they navigate their daily living activities. These professionals work night shifts as well as patients or people in need require assistance during the night as well. Home health and personal care aides work in clients’ homes, group homes, and day services programs.
Disc Jockeys
Average Salary: $40,300 / year | $18.03 / hour
Disc Jockeys are masters of entertainment who keep guests entertained during parties, weddings, clubs, and other events through recorded music. DJs often work self-employed and are typically extra active during the night. As they attend relevant events, they usually work outside the regular working hours to cater to people after work, like early morning, weekends, evenings, and holidays.
Computer Support Specialists
Average Salary: $57,910 / year | $27.84 / hour
In many cases around the world, companies, organizations, and private individuals need computer support services 24/7. This is why computer support specialists work night shifts and even weekends to satisfy the need for technical assistance. Computer support specialists primarily provide help in troubleshooting problems that users have. They also maintain computer networks for organizations that rely on complex systems.
Railroad Workers
Average Salary: $64,150 / year | $30.84 / hour
Train stations and freight activities don’t stop after the sun sets, so railroad workers work during the night shift as well. A railroad worker’s duty is to ensure that passenger and freight trains operate smoothly and safely. Their work may also involve driving trains, coordinating railroad activity, and coordinating with other workers through signals and switches in the rail yard. Railroad workers are extremely busy. The BLS even noted that most work full time and well over 40 hours a week, with shifts covering both day and night.
Aircraft and Avionics Equipment Mechanics and Technicians
Average Salary: $65,550 / year | $31.52 / hour
As airline pilots and flight attendants are busy during nightly airport operations, so too are the aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics and technicians who maintain planes and keep them in perfect shape. Aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics and technicians repair and perform routine maintenance on aircrafts. They work in hangars, repair stations, and airfields day and night to ensure pilots and their passengers are safe and comfortable.
Electricians
Average Salary: $60,040 / year | $28.87 / hour
According to the BLS, most electricians work full-time. Since there are more people during the day, a lot of their work happens at night. They work during the days and evenings, and overtime is common. Electricians install, maintain, and repair electrical power, communications, lighting, and control systems for companies, establishments, and organizations. Electricians often learn through apprenticeships, and most states require electricians to be licensed.
Broadcast Technicians
Average Salary: $51,280 / year | $24.66 / hour
The news would not reach the people without the help of broadcast technicians. From the tv, the radio, and the internet, broadcast technicians play a vital role in ensuring that news reaches the people. They set up, operate, and maintain the many equipments that the media use to acquire, edit, and transmit audio and visual content through radios, TVs, and websites. The technology they master operates satellites, microwaves, and other transmission equipment to broadcast radio and television programs.
Cooks
Average Salary: $29,120 / year | $14.00 / hour
Cooks are the backbone of the food and service industry. They work with chefs and kitchen staff to prepare food for consumers that range from soups, salads, entrees, and desserts. Cooks work in restaurants, schools, hospitals, private households, and many other places and industries where professionals prepare and serve food. As food is a 24/7 necessity, cooks can still be busy after regular working hours, cooking dinner for patrons and even catering to night owls out for a good bite.
Musicians and Singers
Average Salary: $30.49 / hour
The BLS doesn’t have information on musicians’ and singers’ annual incomes as many of these professionals are self-employed. Singers and musicians perform in events, clubs, bars, lounges, and many other establishments. On larger scales, however, the more fortunate musicians earn millions performing in arenas and stadiums for endearing fans across the globe.
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
Average Salary: $30.49 / hour
Keeping the public updated about current events is a reporter’s, news analyst’s, and journalist’s primary duty. They inform people about noteworthy information through magazines, televisions, radios, and even online platforms. Many of these professionals are self-employed, but many prefer working with national or local networks. As many noteworthy events or incidents happen during the night, most journalists, reporters, and news analysts work night shifts as well.
Takeaway
The world has evolved into a 24/7 society, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The changing consumer trends molded the way fields like the food service, manufacturing, and various other industries operate, opening employment prospects during the irregular hours of the day.
Due to the many changes the world is going through, people are starting to realize that the usual 9 AM-5 PM work schedules might not be best for them and their families. Fortunately, there are plenty of job prospects outside the regular working hours.
