I can't speak specifically to walking in off the street with no diploma/education at all, but I'll share this. 25-30 years ago some of my friends could fairly

I can't speak specifically to walking in off the street with no diploma/education at all, but I'll share this. 25-30 years ago some of my friends could fairly easily get line jobs at Ford/GM/etc with just a HS diploma. Of course, from what we were told, it wasn't as easy as way back in the 50s, but it was still a possibility in the 80s, and some of my friends did. In addition to direct work, there was a moderately large ecosystem of auto suppliers to work for, and many of them would still hire with a HS diploma. Friends of mine were starting in 1990/91 at $17/hr with some benefits and usually some overtime available. Min wage, at that time, was... IIRC, $3.35/hr. So.. 5x min wage with just a HS diploma was possible. That's not to say it's not possible now, but I don't think there's many employment situations like that (certainly much fewer than 50 years ago). You'd probably need to be self-employed to pull in $35-$50/hr with just a HS diploma these days, and you're then having to cover your own insurance and perks and whatnot. Hope that helps.