The best and worst jobs in America are...
If you or your children want a crack at the best jobs in America, take this advice: Hire a math tutor.
If you want one of the worst jobs, learn how to chop wood, be a 鈥淲aitress in the Sky鈥� or (ahem) write this story for a living.
Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and measuring factors related to environment, income, stress and outlook, the job website Careercast has ranked the听. Its analysis comes the same week President Barack Obama is making a听$600 million push听to increase occupational training opportunities for the long-term unemployed.
Most of the top occupations, however, will take more than a retraining program to get up to speed鈥攔equiring a four-year degree or more. Jobs in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) have the brightest outlook, taking five of the top 10 occupations. Health care professions such as dental hygienist, audiologist and occupational therapist also look to grow in the coming decade.
The worst jobs are punctuated by low pay, high stress, diminishing job opportunities and sometimes personal danger, such as firefighter, military personnel and corrections officer. Journalism jobs continue to take a beating, as do those for flight attendants.
Here are the听best听and听worst听among some 200 professions:
Best jobs of 2014
| Rank | Job | Median annual salary | Projected job growth by 2022 |
| 1. | Mathematician | $101,360 | 23% |
| 2. | University professor (tenured) | $68,970 | 19% |
| 3. | Statistician | $75,560 | 27% |
| 4. | Actuary | $93,680 | 26% |
| 5. | Audiologist | $69,720 | 34% |
| 6. | Dental hygienist | $70,210 | 33% |
| 7. | Software engineer | $93,350 | 22% |
| 8. | Computer systems analyst | $79,680 | 25% |
| 9. | Occupational therapist | $75,400 | 29% |
| 10. | Speech pathologist | $69,870 | 19% |
Worst jobs of 2014
| Rank | Job | Median annual salary | Projected job growth by 2022 |
| 200. | Lumberjack | $24,340 | 4% |
| 199. | Newspaper reporter | $37,090 | -13% |
| 198. | Enlisted military personnel | $28,840 | n/a |
| 197. | Taxi driver | $22,820 | 16% |
| 196. | Broadcaster | $55,380 | -13% |
| 195. | Head cook | $42,480 | 5% |
| 194. | Flight attendant | $37,240 | -7% |
| 193. | Garbage collector | $22,970 | 10% |
| 192. | Firefighter | $45,250 | 7% |
| 191. | Corrections officer | $38,970 | 5% |
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