Also called: Walking Tour Guide, Step-On Guide
Leads visitors around a city, historic site, or attraction and brings its stories to life.
You lead a group of 25 through a historic district, telling stories about ghosts, gangsters, or founding fathers. Some days you hop on tour buses as a 'step-on' guide. Cities like New York and Washington, D.C. have licensing tests.
Tips can add a lot.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school diploma; some cities require a guide license.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification, Self-taught. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: History, Tourism Management.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years). Grouped with tour and travel guides.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI audio-guide apps cover self-guided sightseeing; storytelling guides with personality keep live groups.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to walking-tour companies (ghost or history tours); a few cities like New Orleans require a license
Classes: History, Speech, World languages.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-7011.
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.