Also called: Historic Shipwreck Salvage Diver, Treasure Hunter (Shipwrecks)
Searches for and recovers gold, silver and artifacts from centuries-old Spanish shipwrecks under state permits.
Off Florida’s Treasure Coast, salvage boats tow magnetometers to find iron from the 1715 Fleet. Divers then fan away sand and use metal detectors to find coins, chains and pottery, mapping each find for archaeologists. Most days you find nothing; a few days you find gold.
Often paid partly in shares of finds; very unpredictable.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. Scuba or commercial diving certificate; boat skills; some have archaeology training.
Ways in: Certification, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Maritime Studies, Anthropology, Commercial Diving (trade school).
Growing about average. Tiny niche controlled by a few permit holders.
Low risk for 10 years. Better sonar and magnetometers find targets, but digging and recording artifacts is human dive work.
Classes: History, Physical education, Earth science.
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.