Complaining about job stress is common. Most people wish they were doing something else most of the time and those that truly wake and can’t wait to start working are less than 1% of the population.
In all honestly, its easy to say that your workplace pressure doesn’t measure up to others. It’s easy to forget that there are many more stressful things we could be doing.
Recently, CareerCast ranked the most stressful jobs. They put enlisted military personnel at the top of the list, thanks to the role’s taxing physical demands, perilous conditions, and high degree of personal risk.
However at the other end we find, information security analysts, who work to protect a company’s sensitive information and deal with the least office-related stress, according to the report.
When putting together the rankings, CareerCast evaluated 200 jobs on 11 stress factors:
- travel required
- growth potential
- deadlines
- working in the public eye
- competition in the field
- physical demands
- environmental conditions
- hazards encountered on a regular basis
- own life at risk
- life of others at risk
- meeting or interacting with the public at large
CareerCast also noted each job’s median (average) salary and the projected hiring growth through 2024, using current BLS data.
Every job has some stress that’s something that everyone can say without a doubt and professions that force you to confront personal endangerment, unsurprisingly, are going to face the highest rates of job-related tension when it comes right down to it.
It should be noted that other professions that rounded out the top of the stressful jobs list — firefighter, airline pilot, and police officer all have one thing in common- the anxiety-inducing task of protecting the lives of others.
The other big stressors CareerCast found that create the most stress were: tight deadlines and high public scrutiny. Maybe these aren’t comparable to being shot at but when it comes down to the scrutiny of others, not everyone is built to deal with that.
That’s what pushed public relations executives, broadcasters and newspaper reporters into the top 10 simply for the fact that they are constantly being judged by others.
Here are the 10 most stressful jobs. For the most part, taking into consideration our current world, these are not surprising.
| RANKING | PROFESSION | MEDIAN SALARY | GROWTH OUTLOOK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enlisted Military Personnel | $27,936 | N/A |
| 2 | Firefighter | $45,970 | 5% |
| 3 | Airline Pilot | $103,390 | 5% |
| 4 | Police Officer | $58,630 | 4% |
| 5 | Event Coordinator | $46,490 | 10% |
| 6 | Public Relations Executive | $55,680 | 6% |
| 7 | Senior Corporate Executive | $102,750 | 6% |
| 8 | Broadcaster | $29,010 | -11% |
| 9 | Newspaper Reporter | $37,200 | -9% |
| 10 | Taxi Driver | $23,210 | 13% |
And if you’re contemplating a career change, here are the 10 least stressful jobs:
| RANKING | PROFESSION | MEDIAN SALARY | GROWTH OUTLOOK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Information Security Analyst | $88,890 | 18% |
| 2 | Diagnostic Medical Sonographer | $62,540 | 24% |
| 3 | Tenured University Professor | $70,790 | 13% |
| 4 | Hair Stylist | $23,200 | 10% |
| 5 | Medical Records Technician | $35,900 | 15% |
| 6 | Medical Laboratory Technician | $49,310 | 16% |
| 7 | Jeweler | $36,870 | -11% |
| 8 | Audiologist | $73,060 | 29% |
| 9 | Dietitian | $56,950 | 16% |
| 10 | Librarian | $56,170 | 2% |
