Given an odd, semisimple, reducible, $2$-dimensional mod $l$ Galois representation, we investigate the possible levels of the modular forms giving rise to it. When the representation is the direct sum of the trivial character and a power of the mod $l$ cyclotomic character, we are able to characterize the primes that can arise as levels of the associated newforms. As an application, we determine a new explicit lower bound for the highest degree among the fields of coefficients of newforms of trivial Nebentypus and prime level. The bound is valid in a subset of the primes with natural (lower) density at least 3/4.