These Are The 10 Worst (And Best) Jobs In America

ZeroHedge.com

The latest annual survey of the best and worst jobs in the country has again found that being a newspaper reporter (blogger may or may not fall under the umbrella) is the worst career one can be pursue.

Careercast.com has released its annual job rankings, where they rank 200 jobs from best to worst. At the very bottom, the survey put the annual median salary of a print reporter at $37,820, barely changed from one year ago. Not surprisingly for an industry in its twilight days, it is the fourth year in a row that a newspaper reporter ranked as the worst job. Being a broadcaster didn’t fare much better, coming in second worst on the list and earning just $1,000 more.

According to the survey, the worst jobs of 2017 – which pay as low as $22,040, have high levels of stress and have poor hiring outlooks – are some of the cornerstones of our society, and great careers for those with the personality types able to face stress (and sometimes danger) head-on. The two lowest-ranking jobs of 2017 have recently taken center stage in American culture in a way not seen in many years. The value of trained, professional Newspaper Reporters and Broadcasters has taken on heightened importance recently as well as increased scrutiny. Journalists covering politics in particular, have been under extreme pressure, in many cases pressured by their bosses to “creatively” reflect reality with a given ideological spin, while accusing their opponents of being “fake news.” Predictably, the two professions rank among the 13 worst for job outlook, with negative growth forecasted through 2024.

“The news business has changed drastically over the years, and not in a good way,” former Broadcaster Ann Baldwin, president of Baldwin Media PR in New Britain, Connecticut recently told Fox5NY. “When people ask me if I miss it, I tell them ‘I feel as if I jumped off of a sinking ship.’”

The report notes that one factor that has many media jobs among the worst is the decline of advertising revenue. And, a drop in advertising sales translates to a decline in positions for advertising sales people. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a 3% decline for Ad Sales Reps. The annual median pay, averaging less than $50,000 a year, trends to the lower end of the Jobs Rated report. Combined with high stress, for the second year in a row, Advertising Salesperson made the list of 10 worst jobs, landing at No. 194 of the 200 careers ranked in the report.

Rounding off the 10 worst jobs are taxi driver ranked 10th, retail salesperson at No. 9, followed by firefighter, ad salesperson and disc jockey. Number five on the list is pest control worker. Enlisted military personnel came in at No. 4, followed by logger.

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As for the best job, this year that honor went to statistician, with an average salary of $80,110, replacing last year’s winner, data scientist (which this year pays $111,267 on average).

According to the survey, “as the world becomes more quantitative and data-focused, mathematics takes center stage, with Statistician topping the best jobs of 2017. Applying the Jobs Rated criteria – evaluating income, growth outlook, stress and environmental factors – this hot field ranked No. 1.”

In a “big data” world, one major factor in the profession’s top billing is that employment is expected to jump by 34% in the coming seven years. The extraordinarily high hiring outlook is the result of increased demand in fields that might not otherwise seem like areas for Statisticians.

In total, four of the top 10 best jobs of 2017 are built on math. Operations Research Analyst ranks No. 3 and Mathematician ranks No. 7. Operations Research Analysts can be found in virtually every industry, from manufacturing to finance and throughout the spectrum of government agencies. They use optimization, data mining, statistical analysis and mathematical modeling to develop solutions that help businesses and organizations operate more efficiently.

Healthcare and computer jobs also dominate the best jobs of 2017. At No. 4, Information Security Analyst is the highest rated technology field of the 2017 Jobs Rated report, but it’s not alone in the Top 10. Software Engineer has been a mainstay on the annual best jobs rankings, and maintains a place at No. 8. Small wonder with a $100,690 annual median salary and growth outlook of 17%.

It was not immediately clear where the most rapidly growing job category in the “new normal” American recovery, those of waiters and bartenders, fell within this list.

Below is an infographic summary of the trend observed within the best and worst jobs:

And here is the detailed breakdown of the 10 best and 10 worst jobs in the U.S. right now.

First, the top 10 best jobs according to the Careercast rankings:

And below are the top 10 worst jobs. We’ll begin with the worst according to Careercast, which happens to be a newspaper reporter. As noted above, blogger – especially, and ironically, one chronicling the failure of a broken socio-economic system – may or may not fall into this umbrella definition.