Top 10 low-stress jobs that pay $100,000 and above
While it is true that no work is without stress, there will always be jobs out there where you can stay productive, happy, and healthy.
You just have to know the stress level you can tolerate and the tasks you think will give you the amount of stress you can manage.
Staying with a job that is just burning you out would not just affect your performance, it can also harm your physical and mental health.
Of course, it’s not just easy to quit a job, especially if that’s your only source of living. Moreover, finding less-stressful jobs isn’t as easy as it sounds.
But a recent dataset published by the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Information Network (O*NET) may be of help as it listed down over 900 jobs and ranked them according to stress levels.
Each job on the list is assigned a value, from 0-100, to measure how often workers in the role must accept criticism and deal calmly with high-stress situations in each job.
Here are 10 roles that have stress levels ranging from 52 to 68 but will still pay you over US$100,000 every year.
Environmental economist
In this role, your job will be to conduct economic analysis on environmental protection, research and write academic papers about alternative energy options using economic principles. Positions in this field may require you a master’s or doctoral degree in environmental science.
Stress levels: 52
Average salary: $105,630
Mathematician
As a mathematician, you will be required to come up with research or reports about fundamental mathematics and its applications to different fields. For you to get this job, you may have to get a master’s or doctoral degree.
Stress levels: 56
Average salary: $108,100
Political scientist
You will need to analyze specific political systems and come out with research studies and recommendations based on the study. You may also teach in college and universities. Most of the jobs that need political scientists require graduate school.
Stress levels: 68
Average salary: $122,510
Chemical engineer
As a chemical engineer, you will use the principles of chemistry to manufacture various products, like drugs, food, plastics, and fuel. They also help design chemical plant equipment and conduct experiments that will improve the product or even the manufacturing process.
Stress levels: 61
Average salary: 105,550
Physicist
As a physicist, you may be required to conduct research into various physical phenomena to develop scientific theories and models and deliver the findings of these studies on lectures. Physicists are usually teachers as well.
Stress levels: 62
Average salary: $152,430
Economist
Economists study current situations, industry models, production, and distribution of resources, goods, and create strategies to address economic problems. Jobs in this field require graduate school, so you may need a master’s or doctoral degree to become an economist.
Stress levels: 64
Average salary: $105,630
Computer and information research scientist
In this role, your job will be to create solutions to problems that hound computer hardware or software, design computer systems and technologies, and improve on existing innovations to streamline processes in an organizational level.
Stress levels: 66
Average salary: $131,490
Computer hardware engineer
You will need to design and develop computer systems, components, units, and technological prototypes as a computer hardware engineer. These products can be used commercially, industrially, or even in military or scientific research.
Stress level: 66
Average salary: 128,170
Orthodontist
Orthodontists specialize in fixing misaligned teeth, bad bites, and other similar dental problems. You will have to know how to diagnose irregularities in tooth position and jaw development and come up with treatment options for patients.
Stress levels: 67
Average salary: $208,000
Petroleum engineer
As a petroleum engineer, you will be designing, improving, or innovate existing methods on how to extract oil from the gas deposits beneath the surface of the Earth. You will also supervise drilling projects and evaluate certain wells and production rates.
Stress levels: 68
Average salary: $130,850
The bottom line
If your skillsets do not fall on these jobs, there is still a nugget of wisdom you can get from the list. For example, most of these high-paying but low-stress jobs require singular focus on a single task. Most of them are not client-facing, too.
Perhaps, what it means is that the least stressful jobs are those that do not overwhelm you with different types of tasks or those that do not deal with customers directly. So, finding jobs like these could be a good start.
Remember, all jobs can be stressful, but you only choose the ones where you can manage the stress and pay you well. There should be a balance in those areas, otherwise you’ll either end up depressed, broke, or both.