36 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress
Madison Hoff  Â
- 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
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $78,440
35. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $81,240
34. Technical writers
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $81,470
33. Civil engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $95,490
32. Financial examiners
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $96,180
31. Art directors
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $115,430
30. Database architects
Importance of stress tolerance: 69
Average annual salary: $121,840
29. Postsecondary mathematical science teachers
Importance of stress tolerance: 68
Average annual salary: $87,980
28. Postsecondary philosophy and religion teachers
Importance of stress tolerance: 68
Average annual salary: $88,260
27. Ship engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 68
Average annual salary: $96,910
26. Geoscientists
Importance of stress tolerance: 68
Average annual salary: $103,550
25. Petroleum engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 68
Average annual salary: $145,720
24. Agricultural engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 67
Average annual salary: $87,350
23. Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes
Importance of stress tolerance: 67
Average annual salary: $116,410
22. Orthodontists
Importance of stress tolerance: 67
Average annual salary: $267,280
21. Postsecondary education teachers
Importance of stress tolerance: 66
Average annual salary: $76,990
20. Computer hardware engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 66
Average annual salary: $136,230
19. Computer and information research scientists
Importance of stress tolerance: 66
Average annual salary: $142,650
18. Postsecondary geography teachers
Importance of stress tolerance: 65
Average annual salary: $88,150
17. Environmental engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 65
Average annual salary: $100,220
16. Epidemiologists
Importance of stress tolerance: 64
Average annual salary: $86,740
15. Statisticians
Importance of stress tolerance: 64
Average annual salary: $99,450
14. Economists
Importance of stress tolerance: 64
Average annual salary: $120,830
13. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 63
Average annual salary: $101,020
12. Postsecondary economics teachers
Importance of stress tolerance: 63
Average annual salary: $124,090
11. Food scientists and technologists
Importance of stress tolerance: 62
Average annual salary: $84,150
10. Hydrologists
Importance of stress tolerance: 62
Average annual salary: $94,780
9. Materials scientists
Importance of stress tolerance: 62
Average annual salary: $104,790
8. Physicists
Importance of stress tolerance: 62
Average annual salary: $151,580
7. Soil and plant scientists
Importance of stress tolerance: 61
Average annual salary: $76,290
6. Commercial and industrial designers
Importance of stress tolerance: 61
Average annual salary: $79,680
5. Operations research analysts
Importance of stress tolerance: 61
Average annual salary: $95,830
4. Political scientists
Importance of stress tolerance: 61
Average annual salary: $120,430
3. Chemical engineers
Importance of stress tolerance: 61
Average annual salary: $121,840
2. Geographers
Importance of stress tolerance: 59
Average annual salary: $86,740
1. Mathematicians
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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