Lawyer, Firefighters… 10 most stressful jobs in US

Experts at Dolman Law Group conducted research to rank the most stressful jobs in the United States (US). The study includes median salary, average work hours as well as unemployment rate and percentage of people changing jobs after the first two years. The score for the ranking was made, taking into account data as well as unique stress factors.

Steelworkers: Steelworkers lead the ranking of the most stressful jobs with a 9.94 score which reflects high physical demand of the occupation, work hazards and long shifts. In addition, the steelworking industry has the highest unemployment rate of 10.5% and lower median salary around $58.5K a year. Steelworkers are one of the three jobs on the list that require only a high school diploma.

Surgeons: Surgeons take the second place in the ranking of the people with the most stressful jobs. The score of 9.26 includes long working hours and 12-28 hour shifts and responsibility for patients’ health and life. Surgeons have the highest salary out of all the jobs in the ranking, summing up to $239K a year.

Anesthesiologists: Anesthesiologistsare is third with a score of 8.97. Another medical profession in the list, it is similar to surgeons in terms of salaries but the unemployment rate for anesthesiologists is three times lower than for surgeons with only 0.61%. As for many medical professions, the stress factors involve long shifts, over 60 work hours a week and patients’ health to care about.

Paramedics: Paramedics claimed fourth place, scoring 8.45 out of 10 for stress. Just as surgeons and anesthesiologists, paramedics have to deal with long shifts and care for people’s lives but their salary is much lower, summing up to $46.7K a year. 

Firefighters: Firefighters follow closely with the fifth place in the ranking of high stress professions. Major stress factors include proximity to physical danger and 24-hour shifts. Firefighters have the lowest unemployment rate in the ranking with only 0.36% even though their median salary is relatively low. In addition only 24% of firefighters change jobs after 1-2 years, another lowest number for all the jobs in the list.

Lawyers: Lawyers take the sixth place with a score of 7.67. Compared to medical specialists or firefighters, lawyers have very different stress factors like a big amount of documents and data, need to meet the demands of their clients and long working hours. Half of the lawyers change jobs after 1-2 years, the highest percentage in the ranking.

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Security guards: Security guards hold the seventh place. Another job on the list that requires only a high school diploma is also very stressful because of the long shifts and dealing with attempted crimes or violence. The job of security guard is also unstable and the unemployment rate remains high at 7.46%.

Clinical social workers: Clinical social workers take the eighth place with a score of 6.84. They usually have a stable 40-hour workweek but stress factors include emotional toll, exposure to trauma, poverty and inequality on a regular basis. Similar to other jobs on the list, around 30% of clinical social workers change jobs after 1-2 years.

Patrol officers: Patrol officers are ninth, getting the score of 6.03 because of the potential dealing with crisis situations and crime. Compared to other jobs in the ranking, they have an average 40-hour workweek and get $64.6K median salary.

Child and family social workers: Child and family social workers close the ranking of the most stressful jobs with tenth place and a score of 5.95, closely following patrol officers. Compared to patrol officers, these social workers have a higher rate of changing jobs after 1-2 years with 36% but the unemployment rate is almost two times lower. Unique stress factors include night and weekend shifts and emotional toll which is common among social workers of all specializations.

A spokesperson from Dolman Law Group commented upon the study: “We see a lot of stress in the current job market, across many industries. In addition to regular stress factors, a lot of jobs such as lawyers or even social workers now have AI as a contributing stress factor.

A lot of professions can be improved and made easier with AI tools but all the jobs in this list are crucial and need human involvement.”