30 People Share The Careers That Are Booming Faster Than You’d Expect

Reddit is no stranger to intriguing questions, but one recent thread struck a curious chord: “What industry is booming way more than people think?” The responses poured in, revealing a mix of niche markets, hidden money-makers, and industries you probably didn’t realize were thriving.

What makes this thread so addictive is the mix of practical insight and pure surprise, reminding us that sometimes the most profitable industries are hiding in plain sight. While tech, e-commerce, and renewable energy were expected mentions, the thread shined a light on some lesser-known winners. Here are a few standouts.

#1

Image source: Long-Tip-5374, Michael Williams/unsplash (not the actual photo) Pet cremation. tiankai: Pet anything actually. If you know how to source it you’ll make bank selling in western markets.

#2

Image source: danman_69, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) International conflict. Arms producers don't make money when ordnance is mothballed.

#3

Image source: lazermaniac, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) HVAC. More areas where you used to get by just fine with an open window and a box fan are getting unbearably hot in the summers.

#4

Image source: JahanzaibRj, JOSHUA COLEMAN/unsplash (not the actual photo) Storage units. We’re basically paying rent for our junk to live a better life than we do.

#5

Image source: Routine_Biscotti_852, JSB Co./unsplash (not the actual photo) Grid-scale battery storage, used to store excess electricity from wind and solar farms for use during peak demand. This industry is huge and is growing exponentially, especially as the cost of batteries continue to drop and demand increases.

#6

Image source: MackPointed, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) You can really see the “authoritarian-adjacent” industries booming under Trump right now. Private prison giants are making record profits off the mass deportation campaign, with the government paying them to lock up more people than ever. Surveillance and defense-tech companies like Palantir are swimming in multi-billion-dollar contracts. Border security tech, AI infrastructure - it’s all getting huge funding. Whatever you call it - authoritarian, security-state, strongman-friendly - these sectors are cashing in big right now.

#7

Image source: driftwooddreams, Thought Catalog/unsplash (not the actual photo) In the UK the VPN business is red hot.

#8

Image source: EnricoPalazz0, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) The used car market. I work on the back end in the commercial lending side for car dealerships. The tariffs (or threat of) on new cars has pushed used car prices towards ridiculous numbers. I occasionally show up at auctions to gauge market trends and a 2017 VW Jetta with 133k miles hammered at $11k. Plus auction fees and transport it'll be $12k and that's before the dealer has done any repairs or made a dollar of profit. Pre Covid a 8 year old Jetta would be $2k tops. But people keep paying it. My market share has risen about 40% since January.

#9

Image source: Netcob, MART PRODUCTION/pexels (not the actual photo) Remote scams and blackmail. Investment scams (not counting crypto rugpulls and memecoins, I feel like that's a different area), service cancellation scams, romance scams (pig butchering) / blackmail, pretty much anything that convinces your parents/grandparents to buy a ton of gift cards or go to a crypto exchange terminal. There are entire buildings full with scam call centers, human trafficking where people are forced into scamming, it's a huge industry now.

#10

Image source: Former-Loan-4250, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Mental health and wellness technology e.g. digital therapy apps, telepsychiatry, and wellness platforms.

#11

Image source: shownoughjones, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Pest control, quietly a 5-11% growth year over year. PE firms are buying the mom and pop shops like crazy, anything over 1m in revenue that shows a healthy business plan.

#12

Image source: IdaSuzuki, Amit Lahav/unsplash (not the actual photo) Sports betting. FreezersAndWeezers: As a big sports fan, I can’t believe how out of control it’s become. 10 years ago it felt like it was a niche thing that your weird uncle did, now you cannot go anywhere that has sports and not have it be a massive point of discussion. A large group of people, mostly men, are completely incapable of watching a sport now without having money on something or yammering about their parlay I wish it was similar to cigarettes where they can’t advertise it, or even regulated like alcohol where you can’t show anyone actually partaking/“having fun” in ads. It’s chipping the integrity of sports

#13

Image source: petes117, Andrej Lišakov/unsplash (not the actual photo) Mobile games. $92.5 billion made in 2024, half of the entire video game industry.

#14

Image source: Much-Guide-8684, Fellipe Ditadi/unsplash (not the actual photo) The second-hand clothing resale industry. Everyone talks about fast fashion, but Vinted and thrift stores are quietly driving a huge economy.

#15

Image source: Cerulean__Dream, Kateryna Hliznitsova/unsplash (not the actual photo) Dead people. There are more dead people than ever. A family member is a Mortician by education, and though he has since retired out, he made great money doing it.

#16

Image source: NeonGran, Paweł L./pexels (not the actual photo) Plastic minis and war games Seriously, Games Workshop brings in more for the British economy than the entire fishing industry. It's actually mad how much people will pay for that stuff when it's so very cheap to make. Please ignore me and my Skaven army over here. It's entirely justified when I do it.

#17

Any industry that fills the void left by having a partner and friends. People are lonelier than ever. So pets, p**n, entertainment/distractions, dumb**s consumables (looking at you, labubu). Image source: elbay

#18

Image source: CrystalCrusader407, Matthew Henry/unsplash (not the actual photo) Energy - particularly electricity due to AI demand. Electricity demand has been pretty slow and steady the past couple decades due to better efficiency, but now AI has caused a huge spike.

#19

Image source: El_mochilero, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Travel. Reddit loves to talk like everybody is living in destitute poverty. But I’ve worked in the travel industry for 15 years and every sector is up right now. Hotel, air, cruise, tour, luxury, Disney, ski, etc. All of it is up.

#20

Image source: SageandStrong33, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Pharmaceutical industry. People are getting sick every day and doctors are writing many prescriptions whenever they can, even though some prescriptions are not always medically necessary for patients to take.

#21

Image source: Pipper_Guy, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Vertical farming is booming! It's a sustainable way to grow food in cities, and big tech is starting to invest in it. It’s going to be huge in the coming years!

#22

Image source: Appropriate_Fly_1383, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Private tutoring, SAT/ACT prep. One of the highest profit margin businesses to operate. .

#23

Image source: kris2ff22, Ussama Azam/unsplash (not the actual photo) Renting luxury handbags by the week. Entire businesses run on it.

#24

Image source: MakesYourMise, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Utilities. Data centers are so desperate for energy they want thier own nuclear reactors. .

#25

Image source: Sad-Math-2039, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Wastewater treatment. S**t doesn't go away.

#26

Image source: IamlostlikeZoroIs, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) Anything that can be scalped - trading card games, driving lessons, concert tickets etc.

#27

AI governance. If you are a policy, legal, security, or ethics person who can get to a “power user” level of AI understanding (like earn a couple of certs, read a few books, and have some basic experience f*****g around with it)- you are set. A lot of jobs are going to be automated- but you will need human beings establishing guardrails for both business and government. Image source: Both_Painter_9186

#28

Image source: Odd_Dot3896, Anna Pou/pexels (not the actual photo) Apparently the matcha industry.

#29

Electricians are in super high demand. Image source: badgersbadger

#30

Education. Institutions keep adding educations but not removing the old ones. At least here in Denmark the country. Theres the university which adds “molecular and medical microbiology”. Granted they combined two eductations which results in double the students spread out in classes. And on the masters level only 15 students a year get to study Neuroscience in Beijing. So they add Then theres the academy for commerce which offers 3.5 years proffesional bachelors. And like someone pointed out in here: they recently added cyber security as its own 3.5 years degree. . Image source: Good_Beautiful_6727