I had a busy day yesterday, so you’ve already probably seen this elsewhere. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published a list of the best and worst jobs. (Story here; list here) The list was developed by careercast.com and is based on that site’s assessment of each profession’s environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands, and stress.
About actuaries, the WSJ writes:
Actuaries, who evaluate the financial impact of risk on an organization, fared best because they work during standard business hours and in favorable conditions—indoors and in places free of toxic fumes or loud noise—as opposed to those jobs toward the bottom of the list such as iron worker, dairy farmer and the biggest loser from last year’s study, lumberjack. They also aren’t expected to do any heavy lifting, crawling or crouching—attributes associated with occupations like bricklayer, auto mechanic and roofer, also near the bottom of the list. (The physical demands of a job were measured using formulas devised by the Department of Labor, with higher scores given to jobs involving great exertion.)
Here’s the top 10, bottom 10, and a couple of selected others from the list:
Rank Profession Starting Salary Median Salary Top Level Salary 1 Actuary $49,000 $85,000 $161,000 2 Software Engineer $54,000 $85,000 $129,000 3 Computer Systems Analyst $45,000 $76,000 $118,000 4 Biologist $39,000 $71,000 $148,000 5 Historian $34,000 $62,000 $111,000 6 Mathematician $54,000 $95,000 $141,000 7 Paralegal Assistant $29,000 $46,000 $73,000 8 Statistician $40,000 $73,000 $117,000 9 Accountant $37,000 $59,000 $102,000 10 Dental Hygienist $44,000 $67,000 $91,000 39 Insurance Underwriter $35,000 $57,000 $100,000 103 Insurance Agent $26,000 $45,000 $114,000 191 Mail Carrier $37,000 $50,000 $52,000 192 Meter Reader $20,000 $33,000 $54,000 193 Construction Worker $18,000 $29,000 $54,000 194 Taxi Driver $16,000 $22,000 $34,000 195 Garbage Collector $18,000 $31,000 $51,000 196 Welder $23,000 $34,000 $51,000 197 Dairy Farmer $21,000 $32,000 $45,000 198 Ironworker $22,000 $32,000 $49,000 199 Lumberjack $22,000 $32,000 $47,000 200 Roustabout $21,000 $31,000 $49,000
