Also called: Currency Trader
Trades currencies like the dollar, euro and yen, where trillions change hands every day.
You trade the euro against the dollar, react instantly when a central bank surprises markets and quote prices to a company hedging overseas sales.
BLS lumps traders into securities sales agents (median ~$78k), which badly understates trading pay. Typical figures shown are salary plus bonus; bonuses depend on profits and can swing from zero to many times salary.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in finance or economics.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Finance, Economics.
Growing slowly. Highly electronic market.
High risk for 10 years. Most currency trading is electronic; bank FX desks keep cutting, with humans left for large clients and unusual trades.
Classes: AP Macroeconomics, Spanish or another language, AP Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 41-3031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.