The 10 Best Jobs In The United States: CareerCast

In today's market, landing the best jobs takes having the right skill set.

It's having an aptitude for math, science and healthcare that's most likely to qualify prospective employees for a job that careers and jobs site CareerCast ranks as one of the best in the country. The site's annual list of the 200 best and worst professions is based on five factors: Physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook.

In 2012, scientific and math-based positions like computer programmer, dental hygienist and financial planner are ranked best because they generally offer high incomes and safe work environments, as well as show signs of future growth, according to CareerCast.

Indeed, recent headlines show just how much cash is in the software and tech industries. This week, Facebook spent $1 billion on the acquisition of photo sharing service Instagram. Meanwhile, tech giant Microsoft also put up 10 figures to buy the rights to 800 patents owned by AOL -- The Huffington Post's parent company -- related to online technology like search, mobile and e-commerce.

Jobs in the health care field like occupational therapist and audiologist also have a strong presence CareerCast's list of best jobs, no doubt due to projected growth in the industry. The healthcare and social assistance industry is expected to create 28 percent of the nation's total jobs over the next eight years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here are the ten best jobs in America, according to CareerCast:

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Comments

[sweetpatriot]

04:29 PM on 09/11/2012

Where is Nurse Practitioner or PA?

[jital54]

12:27 PM on 08/05/2012

Please check out my blog: http://speakingofot.blogspot.com/ to receive all information about the profession of Occupational Therapy. Posted are Toolkits which will be helpful for all incoming and current OTs.

http://speakingofot.blogspot.com/

Thank you!

[Utopian Sky]

01:18 PM on 07/25/2012

Yeah, software engineer is a great career path- if you live in India.

[Goldie Treasure]

06:27 PM on 07/17/2012

Oh my. This is one of the first times I have not seen nurse on a best jobs list,are they finally trying to stop people from drinking the kool aide that nursing has a shortage? I want to be an Occupational Therapist,but am really not motivated to get a masters degree.

[Blair Epps]

11:16 AM on 06/25/2012

I wonder why 99% activist isnt on the list? Its all about the status quo huh huff?

[JohnBryansFontaine]

05:43 PM on 06/18/2012

Bring Jobs Home

http://www.aflcio.org/Get-Involved/Action-Center/Bring-Jobs-Home

[dailyfiber]

12:15 AM on 05/14/2012

Human Resources Manager? They are the dummy that sits on the lap of the ventriloquist. Complete tools.

[suncatcher32]

10:06 PM on 05/01/2012

Technology companies are letting the 40 plus workers go for the Gen Y young adults. The culture in high tech is now playing Foosball and weekly XBox Tournaments whereby we baby boomers were offered a stocked kitchen to keep us working through lunch, companies now offer games to keep the kiddies amused. Ha and we wonder what is wrong with our economy!!!!!

[Lestibournes]

01:43 PM on 04/17/2012

The image for "9. Computer Systems" shows someone using Ubuntu 10.10. It can be recognized be the theme (Radiance) and the wallpaper, which is one of the defaults for that version of Ubuntu. Other software she is shown using includes Eclipse, gEdit, and the terminal.

[Utopian Sky]

01:22 PM on 07/25/2012

And the image for "1. Software Engineer" shows a guy doing web design on a Mac. That just shows that whoever put together the clipart for the slideshow just picked random images of people sitting at computers.

[Carl Vancil]

02:24 PM on 03/29/2013

Gotta love it! :)
My fave OS is popping up in more and more places lately. It's good to see (any) Linux gaining popularity, even if it's Ubuntu that has been mired in user outrage over Canonical's choice to differentiate Ubuntu from the other Linux distros by wrapping Unity in as their desktop choice. (Personally, I've grown to love Unity, though that wasn't the case with the first release... but around the 11.10 release, I started seeing it becoming a very stable, fast, and intuitive desktop environment). Anyone here remember the first time they saw a Linux system? What year? Where was it?

In my case, I'd heard about Linux through a friend of mine that I had taught how to use computers several years previous (to 1997, when he introduced me to Red Hat). My first install was Debian 1.2, followed by Red Hat 5.0. I switched to Ubuntu after their 7.04 release, and while I've used several other distros both before and after, I've stuck with Ubuntu as my Linux of choice since then.

[dontomas]

10:09 PM on 04/15/2012

Yet if a few years ago you were a low level employee with stock benefits at Apple, Google or Facebook you could now retire.

[Willie Qwit]

02:10 PM on 04/15/2012

Human Resource Managers? I don't think I'd like that job.

[frombehindthemic]

08:41 AM on 04/15/2012

I have the best job in the WORLD and my skill set was learned in the seedy underbelly of American life. I'm a sex serogate. It pays well, is legal (if you have the proper licensing for your state), thousands need the help and actually make a living having safe sex.... last year, $104,600. I'm never up tight, stressed out, or pissed at the world for not handing me the silver spoon.

[Jimbaba]

10:24 PM on 04/15/2012

Ok but you should learn to spell "surrogate" if it's your profession!

[lunkenco]

07:32 AM on 04/15/2012

the list is endless
people must be creative
like the many manipulators sans job title

[tuttle101]

03:14 AM on 04/15/2012

Math is always fun and such a big part of our everyday lives:
http://www.amazon.com/Do-Math-Growth-Strategic-Thinking/dp/1412999596

[lunkenco]

07:34 AM on 04/15/2012

fuzzy math makes war costs 400 billion,while it cost the economy 15-25 trillion,if we pay it sooner
or the interest at 1-1.5 trillion per yr,
can bury us,compliments the wasted
useless,war

[Willie Qwit]

02:11 PM on 04/15/2012

That is arithmetic.

True mathematics is completely different and is the basis for most scientific endeavors.

[Afterschool Carl]

01:53 AM on 04/15/2012

Some of those jobs involve a lot of sitting. And sitting is unhealthy. So they're good jobs until you get 'the diabeetus' and die early I guess.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.html

[lunkenco]

07:35 AM on 04/15/2012

that is built in
vast majority cannot comprehend the fuzzy math,
and are clearly the target

[Eric Flanagan]

10:25 AM on 04/15/2012

It's the eye strain that gets you.