The most - and least - stressful jobs

Here’s a headline with no surprise: Military personnel have the most stressful jobs. But could you guess the least? Information security analyst, with a median income near $90,000 and 18 percent growth outlook.

The annual job stress list created by CareerCast.com, a North American jobs database cited by national media such as CNN and Forbes, ranks 11 factors contributing to work-related stress (rating the relative importance of each factor to the job): travel, growth potential, deadlines, working in the public eye, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, own life at risk, another’s life at risk, and meeting the public.

The rest of the top 10 most stressful careers highlight jobs with high levels of public interaction:

2. Firefighter ($45,000 median income; 3 percent job growth outlook)

3. Airline pilot ($103,000; 5 percent)

4. Police officer ($58,000; 4 percent)

5. Event coordinator ($46,000; 10 percent)

6. Public relations executive ($55,000; 6 percent)

7. Senior corporate executive ($102,000; 6 percent)

8. Broadcaster ($29,000; negative growth outlook)

9. Newspaper reporter ($37,000; negative growth)

10. Taxi driver ($23,000; 13 percent)

For added perspective, and excepting the incomparable stress endured by military personnel, note the wide difference in overall stress points between the top and bottom-ranking careers. Both firefighters and airline pilots had stress points in excess of 60 (out of 100), whereas information analysts and sonographers hover around 4 points.

The least stressful careers also spotlight healthcare:

2. Diagnostic medical sonographer (median income $62,000; 24 percent job growth outlook)

3. Tenured college professor ($70,000; 13 percent)

4. Hair stylist ($23,000; 10 percent)

5. Medical records tech ($35,000; 15 percent)

6. Medical lab tech ($49,000; 16 percent)

7. Jeweler ($36,000; negative growth outlook)

8. Audiologist ($73,000; 29 percent)

9. Dietitian ($56,000; 16 percent)

And finally, the 10th least stressful job mirrors a retirement fantasy: Librarian, with almost no growth outlook (2 percent; sniff, sniff) and $56,000 median annual income. In a quiet environment. Surrounded by those lovely books of the paper-and-ink variety. A sea of knowledge for the taking. In a word, Nirvana.

Did I mention it’s National Library Week?

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Sholeh Patrick is a bibliophilic columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.