Most people need to work to make money, and many tend to just focus on their careers. However, it’s equally important to focus on your lifestyle: your leisure time, time with your family, your health, pleasures in life, and your spiritual development. If an opportunity arose, many people would strive for two goals in life: make lots of money and have less stress. Having a great work-life balance is an important lifestyle choice that everyone should strive to achieve. However, many career choices don’t afford that opportunity.
If you’re just entering the job market or are considering a change, then you may want to consider one of these low stress and higher paying positions, according to Business Insider and CareerCast. While you’ll need an advanced degree for some positions, others only require a bachelor’s degree. The data shown below was gathered from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Occupational Information Network. The OIN uses various stress tolerances in their rankings, which range from 0 to 100. A score of 100 has the most stress. The following positions have stress levels ranging from 55 to 70.
Orthodontists: $196,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree, dental school, and residency.
Computer and Information Systems Managers: $133,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Physicists: $117,000
Requirements: Ph.D. for most research jobs
Optometrists: $112,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s, four-year doctor of optometry program, and a state license
Astronomers: 110,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D.
Actuaries: $108,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Computer Hardware Engineers: $107,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Mathematicians: $103,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s and possibly a master’s degree
Economists: $101,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Political Scientists: $101,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree and Master’s or Ph.D.
Art Directors: $97,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Applications Software Developers: $96,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Tenured university professor: $95,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s, Masters, and Ph.D. degrees
Marine Engineers and Naval Architects: $94,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Audiologist: $69,720
Requirements: Bachelor’s and Masters degrees
Food Scientists: $65,000
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
Dietitian: $55,240
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in nutrition, dietetics or a related subject.
Librarian: $55,370
Requirements: Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
For additional information, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website.