Survey Looks At America's Best Jobs
Survey Considered Vacation Time, Stress Level
POSTED: Thursday, April 13, 2006
UPDATED: 12:38 pm EDT April 13,2006
NEW YORK -- What's your idea of a dream job? According to a list developed by MONEY Magazine and Salary.com, software engineer is at the top of the heap. MONEY and Salary.com have come up with a list of the 50 best jobs in the U.S. by analyzing government and private data on industry growth and compensation levels.They also looked into such things as job satisfaction, stress levels, flexibility and advancement opportunity.MONEY and Salary.com said the profession of software engineer has strong growth prospects, average pay better than $80,000 a year and creativity. Other jobs in the top 10, from the bottom, are: psychologist, pharmacist, real-estate appraiser, computer/IT analyst, market-research analyst, physician's assistant, human-resources manager, financial adviser and college professor."This list captures the meaning of 'Best Jobs in America,'" said Craid Matters, MONEY's executive editor. "We not only looked at the hard numbers, but we delved into the things that make a job special."The job of college professor scored particularly well in stress level, flexibility and creativity.College professors also reported the lowest average number of working hours each week at 30, and the highest average number of vacation days -- 31.Dentists reported the shortest amount of vacation with 14 days."While salary is one of the most important factors in determining the worth of a job, workers today are far more selective in their career choice based on the job's growth potential, advancement, stress, and flexibility than in years past," said Meredith Hanrahan, senior vice president of marketing at Salary.com.The survey also found that women generally reported more stress, less satisfaction and less flexibility in their jobs than men.The survey polled 26,000 workers about their job satisfaction based on factors such as stress level, flexibility, creativity and ease of entry into and advancement within the field.
Top 10 Best Jobs:
- Software engineer -- Average pay $80,427
- College professor -- Average pay $81,491
- Financial advisor -- Average pay $122,462
- Human resources manager -- Average pay $73,731
- Physician assistant - Average pay $75,117
- Market research analyst -- Average pay $82, 317
- Computer/IT analyst -- Average pay $82,427
- Real estate appraiser -- Average Pay $66,216
- Pharmacist -- Average pay $91,998
- Psychologist -- Average pay $66,359
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Police say text messages between teenage students led to a beating that left a 15-year-old girl in intensive care and led to an attempted murder charge for a 15-year-old boy.
A South Florida mother was arrested for allegedly beating her young daughter.
House Democrats heard it all Saturday -- words of inspiration from President Barack Obama and raucous chants of protests from demonstrators. And at times it was flat-out ugly, including some racial epithets aimed at black members of Congress.
Police say vendors at the Swap Shop were selling electronics stolen from large stores.
A man trying to sell a car was robbed, beaten and shot in Miami last week, and only one of the suspects has been arrested.
A 13-year-old girl makes her first appearance in court, accused of being an accomplice to attempted murder in the case of a teenage girl who was beaten, allegedly by a 15-year-old boy.
Surveillance cameras roll as two men rob a Brinks armored truck outside a Walgreens store.
A girl who was attacked at a bus stop outside Deerfield Beach Middle School Wednesday remains in an intensive care unit.
Surveillance video shows what happens when a man tries to grab cash out of a register at a pizza parlor in Portland, Ore.
View examples of the artwork of Josie Lou Ratley, a 15-year-old girl severely beaten at a bus stop outside Deerfield Beach Middle School.
Is Sandra Bullock following a list of other actresses who experienced relationship problems following their Best Actress wins?
The new season of Dancing With The Stars premieres Monday night at 8 p.m. on ABC and Local 10 has your backstage pass to all the action!
It's something for everyone: A slideshow of wild stories where you have the choice of watching the video clip at your workstation -- or not! 
Need some luggage, jewelry or electronics? Check out the MIA Lost and Found Public Auction this weekend.
Email Alerts
RSS News Feeds
Mobile
Live Streams
Slideshows
Video
Search
