scorecard36 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress
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36 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress

Madison Hoff   

36 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress
Biomedical engineers are well-compensated while tending to work in low-stress environments.Tom Robertson/Getty Images
  • There are many jobs that are both well-paid and offer a relaxing work environment.
  • We looked at jobs that pay at least $75,000 annually and that have a relatively low-stress work situation.

36. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

36. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
Westend61/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $78,440

35. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health

35. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health
Kilito Chan/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $81,240

34. Technical writers

34. Technical writers
Reza Estakhrian/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $81,470

33. Civil engineers

33. Civil engineers
Alistair Berg/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $95,490

32. Financial examiners

32. Financial examiners
PhotoAlto/Eric Audras/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $96,180

31. Art directors

31. Art directors
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $115,430

30. Database architects

30. Database architects
Jetta Productions Inc/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 69

Average annual salary: $121,840

29. Postsecondary mathematical science teachers

29. Postsecondary mathematical science teachers
Ariel Skelley/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 68

Average annual salary: $87,980

28. Postsecondary philosophy and religion teachers

28. Postsecondary philosophy and religion teachers
Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 68

Average annual salary: $88,260

27. Ship engineers

27. Ship engineers
Igor-Kardasov/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 68

Average annual salary: $96,910

26. Geoscientists

26. Geoscientists
Adwo/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 68

Average annual salary: $103,550

25. Petroleum engineers

25. Petroleum engineers
Larisa Rudenko/Shutterstock

Importance of stress tolerance: 68

Average annual salary: $145,720

24. Agricultural engineers

24. Agricultural engineers
Luis Alvarez/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 67

Average annual salary: $87,350

23. Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes

23. Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes
Rob Carr/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 67

Average annual salary: $116,410

22. Orthodontists

22. Orthodontists
Master Video/Shutterstock

Importance of stress tolerance: 67

Average annual salary: $267,280

21. Postsecondary education teachers

21. Postsecondary education teachers
skynesher/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 66

Average annual salary: $76,990

20. Computer hardware engineers

20. Computer hardware engineers
Associated Press

Importance of stress tolerance: 66

Average annual salary: $136,230

19. Computer and information research scientists

19. Computer and information research scientists
Maskot/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 66

Average annual salary: $142,650

18. Postsecondary geography teachers

18. Postsecondary geography teachers
Kachor Valentyna/Shutterstock

Importance of stress tolerance: 65

Average annual salary: $88,150

17. Environmental engineers

17. Environmental engineers
Moof/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 65

Average annual salary: $100,220

16. Epidemiologists

16. Epidemiologists
Reuters/Maria Armas

Importance of stress tolerance: 64

Average annual salary: $86,740

15. Statisticians

15. Statisticians
Luis Alvarez/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 64

Average annual salary: $99,450

14. Economists

14. Economists
SmartPhotoLab/Shutterstock

Importance of stress tolerance: 64

Average annual salary: $120,830

13. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers

13. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers
Biomedical engineers are well-compensated while tending to work in low-stress environments.      Tom Robertson/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 63

Average annual salary: $101,020

12. Postsecondary economics teachers

12. Postsecondary economics teachers
Business Insider

Importance of stress tolerance: 63

Average annual salary: $124,090

11. Food scientists and technologists

11. Food scientists and technologists
Mark Edward Atkinson/Tracey Lee/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 62

Average annual salary: $84,150

10. Hydrologists

10. Hydrologists
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 62

Average annual salary: $94,780

9. Materials scientists

9. Materials scientists
Monty Rakusen/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 62

Average annual salary: $104,790

8. Physicists

8. Physicists
pixelprof/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 62

Average annual salary: $151,580

7. Soil and plant scientists

7. Soil and plant scientists
SDI Productions/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 61

Average annual salary: $76,290

6. Commercial and industrial designers

6. Commercial and industrial designers
portishead1/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 61

Average annual salary: $79,680

5. Operations research analysts

5. Operations research analysts
Pattanaphong Khuankaew / EyeEm/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 61

Average annual salary: $95,830

4. Political scientists

4. Political scientists
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Importance of stress tolerance: 61

Average annual salary: $120,430

3. Chemical engineers

3. Chemical engineers
Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock

Importance of stress tolerance: 61

Average annual salary: $121,840

2. Geographers

2. Geographers
Franz Aberham/Getty Images

Importance of stress tolerance: 59

Average annual salary: $86,740

1. Mathematicians

1. Mathematicians
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

Importance of stress tolerance: 56

Average annual salary: $112,430

Method and data source

The Department of Labor's O*NET Online occupational database includes survey-based measurements of how important various skills, activities, and personal traits are for a particular job.

One of the characteristics measured is stress tolerance, which O*NET describes as jobs requiring "accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations."

O*NET scores job characteristics like stress tolerance on a scale from 0 to 100, where a 0 means stress tolerance is not at all necessary for an occupation, and 100 suggests a job with a very high-stress environment.

We ranked occupations from most to least stressful using O*NET's stress tolerance score, with lower scores indicating less stressful jobs. Since we are interested in high-paying jobs, we looked at occupations that had stress tolerance scores available and with average annual salaries of at least $75,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for May 2021, the most recently available release.

The above jobs were ranked from most to least stressful. In the case of a tied stress tolerance score, we ranked by average annual wages.

Several of the jobs fell in academia, with postsecondary teachers in various fields and researchers in economics, statistics, mathematics, and materials science dominating the top of the list.

Andy Kiersz previously contributed to this story.

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