Top 10 Most Stressful and Least Stressful Jobs
By: SUSANNA KIM
Updated: January 3, 2013
Looking for a low-stress job? Being a full-time university professor is the least stressful career for 2013, according to jobs site CareerCast.com.
It's the first time that career has won the title of least stressful in the site's 20-year history of assessing jobs.
"Professors are kings of their kingdoms," said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com and JobsRated.com. "They tell students what they must do."
Lee said the list does not distinguish whether a professor is tenured, though that may be a factor in stress-level.
University professors, with a median salary of $62,050, topped last year's winning career, which was medical records technician. That career, with a median salary of $32,350, came in third this year.
In assessing 200 careers, CareerCast.com's criteria included 11 stress factors like travel, job outlook, deadlines, working in the public eye, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, own life at risk, life of another at risk, and meeting the public.
CareerCast works with math and statistics researchers at the University of Wisconsin to compile the list, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, trade reports and other sources.
Lee said the least stressful careers tend to entail positive feedback from people on a regular basis. In those cases, people are working are generally pleased, he said.
"The most stressful list tends to be opposite," he said.
The silver lining is that the more stressful a job is, the higher the likelihood you'll get paid more, said Lee. The logic follows somewhat that military enlisted personnel and military generals are the first and second most stressful careers, with median salaries of $45,528 and $196,000. Being a firefighter, which was the second most stressful job last year, was ranked as the third most stressful career in the current survey.
Lee concedes that what may is stressful for one person may not affect another person.
"You can argue a firefighter is not stressed if they relish adrenaline and rushing into a burning building," he said. "But using analytical data, most people would say rushing into a burning building is stressful."
Read more: Harvard, Stanford Researchers Find Leaders Less Stressed Due to Sense of Control
The following are the least stressful jobs for 2013, followed by the most stressful jobs:
1.
| University Professor |
Median salary: $62,050
2.
| Seamstress/Tailor |
Median salary: $25,850
3.
| Medical Records Technician |
Median salary: $32,350
4.
| Jeweler |
Median salary: $35,170
5.
| Medical Laboratory Technician |
Median salary: $46,680
6.
| Audiologist |
Median salary: $66,660
7.
| Dietitian |
Median salary: $53,250
8.
| Hair Stylist |
Median salary: $22,500
9.
| Librarian |
Median salary: $54,500
10.
| Drill Press Operator |
Median salary: $31,910
MOST STRESSFUL JOBS:
1.
| Enlisted Military Personnel |
Median salary: $45,528 (W-1, 8 years experience)
2.
| Military General |
Median salary: $196,300
3.
| Firefighter |
Median salary: $42,250
4.
| Commercial Airline Pilot |
Median salary: $92,060
5.
| Public Relations Executive |
Median salary: $57,550
6.
| Senior Corporate Executive |
Median salary: $101,250
7.
| Photojournalist |
Median salary: $29,130
8.
| Newspaper Reporter |
Median salary: $36,000
9.
| Taxi Driver |
Median salary: $22,440
10.
| Police Officer |
Median salary: $55,010
