10 Happiest Jobs

“A meaningful life must, in some sense then, feel worthwhile. The person living the life must be engaged by it. A life of commitment to causes that are generally defined as worthy — like feeding and clothing the poor or ministering to the ill — but that do not move the person participating in them will lack meaningfulness in this sense. However, for a life to be meaningful, it must also be worthwhile. Engagement in a life of tiddlywinks does not rise to the level of a meaningful life, no matter how gripped one might be by the game.” Todd May (New York Times)

The General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago has cited the 10 Happiest Jobs.

1. Clergy - The least worldly is reported to be the happiest of all

2. Firefighters – this job involves helping people and 80% of firefighters are “very satisfied” with their jobs.

3. Physical therapists -this also involves helping people and more social interaction which apparently are the reasons why this job is one of the happiest.

4. Authors - despite the ridiculously low or non existent pay for most authors, they are still happy because of the autonomy of writing down the contents of their own mind.

5. Special education teachers - averaging an annual income under $50,000, special education teachers surely don’t care about money.

6. Teachers – in general teachers are reported being happy with their jobs, despite the current issues with education funding and classroom conditions. Young idealists are attracted to this job although almost 50% of the new teachers do not last of more than 5 years.

7. Artists Sculptors and painters report high job satisfaction, despite the great difficulty in making a living from it.

8. Psychologists – Psychologists may or may not be able to solve other people’s problems, but it seems that they have managed to solve their own.

9. Financial services sales agents – Sixty-five percent of financial services sales agents are reported to be happy with their jobs. That could be because some of them are clearing more than $90,000 dollars a year on average for a 40-hour work week in a comfortable office environment.

10. Operating engineers - Playing with giant toys like bulldozers, front-end loaders, backhoes, scrapers, motor graders, shovels, derricks, large pumps, and air compressors can be fun. With more jobs for operating engineers than qualified applicants, operating engineers report being happy.