What is the best job in the world? If you answered “the job I have now,” congratulations!
Fortunately for everyone else, in its massive 2016 jobs research piece, U.S. News & World Report set out to find which ones are The Best.
This means not just best-paying jobs, but best-paying jobs with (relatively) less stress, more work-life balance, and lots of potential for job growth. (Note that the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers average job growth to be 7 percent--most of the jobs listed below are looking at way more growth than that.)
After the statistics were crunched and ranked and adjusted (some of these jobs are actually really stressful), many health care jobs topped the list.
Aspects in their favor were high pay and, in many cases, an impending shortage of workers in certain specialties. And a growing need for their services.
However, as you’ll see, not all of the best jobs are medical. Here are the top 10 best jobs for 2016.
10. TIE: Obstetrician-Gynecologist | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Obstetrician-Gynecologist
Median annual salary: $187,199
Bottom line duty: Catching babies and monitoring/treating women’s overall reproductive health, during pregnancy and beyond.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Below average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 18 percent between 2014 and 2024 with 4,300 new jobs.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Median annual salary: $187,199
Bottom line duty: Specialists who treat defects and problems with hard and soft tissues above the collarbone, in front of the ears, using surgery.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Below average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 18 percent between 2014 and 2024, with 1,200 new jobs.
9. Anesthesiologist
Median annual salary: $187,199
Bottom line duty: Doctors who keep patients alive during surgical/medical procedures in a semi-comatose or comatose state induced by drugs or gasses.
Stress level: High
Flexibility/work-life balance: Low
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 21 percent from 2014 to 2024, with 7,100 new jobs.
8. Pediatrician
Median annual salary: $163,350
Bottom line duty: Make sure kids survive childhood.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 10 percent from 2014 to 2024, with 3,600 new jobs.
7. Psychiatrist
Median annual salary: $181,880
Bottom line duty: Physicians concerned with the mind and mental health, whose tools are therapy, hospitalization, and pharmaceuticals.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 15 percent from 2014 to 2024, with 4,200 new jobs.
6. Nurse Practitioner
Median annual salary: 95,350
Bottom line duty: Nurse practitioners generally have practical experience as nurses, tend to focus on a specific population, and typically do not have to practice under the supervision of a physician.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Below average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 35 percent from2014 to 2024, with 44,700 new jobs.
5. Physician Assistant
Median annual salary: $95,820
Bottom line duty: Physician assistants do much of what physicians can do, under the supervision of a licensed physician or surgeon, but with some restrictions.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Above average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 30 percent from 2014 to 2024 with 28,700 new jobs
4. Nurse Anesthetist
Median annual salary: $153,780
Bottom line duty: Specially trained nurses who administer general or regional anesthesia to patients.
Stress level: Above average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Below average
Outlook for jobs: Growth ofabout 19 percent by the year 2024, with 7,400 new jobs; however, the study notes that “in 2025, graduates from nurse anesthesia programs will need to have doctoral degrees.”
3. Computer Systems Analyst
Median annual salary: $82,710
Bottom line duty: The extroverts of the IT world, who use their IT expertise and their understanding of a client’s business to research, find, and oversee installation of computer systems for them.
Stress level: Average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of21 percent between 2014 and 2024, faster than the average of all occupations, with 118,000 new jobs.
2. Dentist
Median salary: $149,540
Bottom line duty: Help people fix, retain, and maintain healthy teeth and gums.
Stress level: Average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Above average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 18 percent between 2014 and 2024, with 23,300 new openings.
1. Orthodontist
Median salary: $187,199 in 2014
Bottom line duty: Use hardware and dental expertise to solve problems with improper bites and askew teeth.
Stress level: Below average
Flexibility/work-life balance: Above average
Outlook for jobs: Growth of 18 percent from 2014 to 2024, with about 1,500 new job openings.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
