With the New Year underway, searching for a new job is on the minds of many workers--something the average job seeker will do 11.7 times by age 48. For job seekers at a turning point in their careers, which jobs today offer the best prospects?
Using Glassdoor's unique data on the labor market, we compiled a list of the 25 Best Jobs in America for 2016 based on three simple criteria:
- Salary: Median annual base salary reported on Glassdoor over the past year;
- Job Openings: The number of U.S. job openings as of 1/8/16; and
- Career Opportunities: Average "career opportunities" rating (on a scale of 1.0 to 5.0) reported on Glassdoor over the past year.
After crunching the numbers, here is our list of the 25 jobs that offer the best prospects for job seekers in 2016:
- Job Score: 4.7
- Number of Job Openings: 1,736
- Median Base Salary:116,840
- Career Opportunities Rating: 4.1
- Job Score: 4.7
- Number of Job Openings: 1,574
- Median Base Salary:108,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.9
- Job Score: 4.6
- Number of Job Openings: 2,906
- Median Base Salary:119,500
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.5
- Job Score: 4.6
- Number of Job Openings: 1,356
- Median Base Salary:125,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.8
- Job Score: 4.6
- Number of Job Openings: 2,251
- Median Base Salary:90,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.8
- Job Score: 4.6
- Number of Job Openings: 3,468
- Median Base Salary:85,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.7
- Job Score: 4.6
- Number of Job Openings: 3,364
- Median Base Salary:97,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.5
- Job Score: 4.5
- Number of Job Openings: 6,607
- Median Base Salary:106,680
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
- Job Score: 4.5
- Number of Job Openings: 49,270
- Median Base Salary:95,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
- Job Score: 4.5
- Number of Job Openings: 1,001
- Median Base Salary:95,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.9
- Job Score: 4.5
- Number of Job Openings: 982
- Median Base Salary:105,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.7
- Job Score: 4.4
- Number of Job Openings: 1,199
- Median Base Salary:135,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
- Job Score: 4.4
- Number of Job Openings: 1,111
- Median Base Salary:115,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.5
- Job Score: 4.4
- Number of Job Openings: 2,560
- Median Base Salary:90,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
- Job Score: 4.4
- Number of Job Openings: 3,749
- Median Base Salary:85,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
- Job Score: 4.3
- Number of Job Openings: 1,632
- Median Base Salary:115,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
- Job Score: 4.3
- Number of Job Openings: 2,906
- Median Base Salary:80,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
- Job Score: 4.3
- Number of Job Openings: 863
- Median Base Salary:91,800
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.6
- Job Score: 4.3
- Number of Job Openings: 631
- Median Base Salary:130,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.7
- Job Score: 4.2
- Number of Job Openings: 1,160
- Median Base Salary:69,548
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.7
- Job Score: 4.2
- Number of Job Openings: 1,071
- Median Base Salary:84,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
- Job Score: 4.2
- Number of Job Openings: 1,054
- Median Base Salary:78,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
- Job Score: 4.2
- Number of Job Openings: 5,624
- Median Base Salary:99,500
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.1
- Career Score: 4.2
- Number of Job Openings: 2,516
- Median Base Salary:76,900
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.3
- Career Score: 4.2
- Number of Job Openings: 653
- Median Base Salary:130,000
- Career Opportunities Rating: 3.4
Here are some trends we see in this year's list of best jobs.
Tech Jobs: These include data scientists (#1), solutions architects (#3), mobile developer (#5). Altogether, tech jobs make up 10 of the 25 best jobs. A decade ago, these positions were mostly within tech companies like Google and Facebook. But today they're diffusing throughout the economy into traditional industries like banking, retail, consulting and government. Any organization with a mobile app, online payments, or digitized data that can be turned into business insights is hiring these positions right now.
Finance Jobs: These include audit manager (#10) and finance manager (#16). Both tech and finance jobs have experienced tremendous growth in recent years, and this is likely to continue as the U.S. marches down a path toward the world's leading provider of high-skilled services. With the Great Recession far behind us, companies today are paying more attention to their finances to ensure responsibility, accuracy, and that they're meeting their tax and financial expectations on time and accurately. These jobs require tremendous judgment, creativity and flexibility, keeping them safe from growing workplace automation any time soon.
Healthcare Jobs: According to projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare jobs will grow more than another occupational group over the next decade. These include physician assistant (#7) and nurse practitioner (#23). Healthcare is America's fastest-growing industry, thanks to aging Baby Boomers and rapidly growing demand for health services. Today, there are more than 1 million job openings in healthcare--the second highest of any industry behind professional and business services--making these jobs an ideal target for job seekers looking for a career change.
Methodology: Glassdoor's 25 Best Jobs in America report identifies specific jobs with the highest overall Glassdoor Job Score. The Glassdoor Job Score is determined by weighting three factors equally: earning potential (median annual base salary), career opportunities rating, and number of job openings. Results represent job titles that rate highly among all three categories. The Glassdoor Job Score is based on a 5-point scale (5.0=best job, 1.0=bad job). For a job title to be considered, it must receive at least 75 salary reports and at least 75 career opportunities ratings shared by U.S.-based employees over the past year (1/8/15-1/7/16). The number of job openings per job title represents active job listings on Glassdoor as of 1/8/16. This report takes into account job title normalization that groups similar job titles.
This article originally published on Glassdoor Economic Research.