2011 Top Careers and Math

This report from CareerCast ranks 200 jobs from best to worst:

http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/2011-ranking-200-jobs-best-worst

Jobs were analyzed based on five factors:  Environment, Income, Outlook, Stress, and Physical Demands.

As is so often the case in these job-ranking surveys, math-based careers fared very well:  coming in at #2 is Mathematician (whatever that means), #3 is Actuary (always near the top of these lists), and at #4 is Statistician (great if you like stats, I suppose).

I guess Roustabout is not as much fun as it sounds, as it placed 200th in the rankings.  And I’ve met a lot of happy, successful Taxi Drivers (#192) in my life.

It’s not surprising to see Teacher in the #100 spot, with its high stress-to-income ratio.  But Surgeon right behind at #101?  According to the results, it’s about 3 times as stressful but about 7 times the pay.

Might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the methodology, which can be found here.